Kazoku from Dimension X
by Rachel Lyse Brook
Summary: After returning from Dimension X, the Hamato clan finds itself tripled in number. Join Leo, Raph, Donnie and Mikey on the ups and downs of an increasingly complicated family life all while trying to stop the Kraang and Shredder from destroying it all. AU. Season 2/Season 3. MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. R&R
1. Prologue

((A/N: Hi Guys! Rachel Brook here with Renee, posting our first story together!

This is an OC fanfiction with OCs abounding. If you do not like them, you do not have to read.

Just as a reminder, this is an AU. The story will be similar, but not the same as canon. There will be details from the canon in here. Just bear with us as we try to explain in the coming chapters.

Enjoy!))

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><p>Prologue:<p>

_I hate this…I hate the dark…I hate the glass…I hate these strange creatures that refuse to let us sleep at night…_

_But most of all, I hate hearing the screams of the little ones…_

"Kraang, is the test subject ready for the test that is the test that is given by Kraang?"

"Yes, Kraang. Proceed with the test given by Kraang."

A loud shriek echoed through the pinkish darkness.

_M2…_

"_Stop it! Stop hurting the baby!"_ I beat on the glass, unseen and unheard by these metal maniacs.

And I'm not the only one… M1, across the way, is also banging on the glass, ramming his shoulder and shell into the glass that I knew wasn't going to break under his little weight. D1, the other little turtle in the same tank was attempting to stop the smaller turtle from hurting himself, a method to which he was failing.

In the tank next to me, the other three newest turtles were crying and sitting on the glass. I wasn't sure why, but L2 seemed to be crying more so than the others.

I should probably explain who and where I am.

These creatures, the Kraang as they call themselves, are our captors and creators. I don't remember much of my creation, but I know I was not the first one…nor the last. I am the oldest survivor of the Kraang's turtle experiments.

They call me C3.

Around me in the other three glass chambers are 7 other turtles.

The one across the way from me holds two young males, the Kraang refer to them as D1 and M1, though I'm not sure why.

In the glass chamber beside them are two females, like me, but much younger. The Kraang call them L1 and R1.

And lastly, in the chamber beside me are 3 baby turtles, two males and one female, L2, R2, D2 respectively. There is usually a fourth little girl, and that is the one that is screaming. They call her M2.

From what I can gather, the twos are related to the ones with the same letter. I don't know why I am different…and maybe I'll never know.

I do wish the big Alligator, the one the Kraang call Leatherhead, would come back. I felt so much safer with him around.

As if called by my thoughts…a large, leathery figure burst through the door of the lab. I could have recognized the roar that filled the room from a mile away. Granted, M2's cries were distressing…but maybe she would be safe now.

"LEATHERHEAD!" I cried through the glass, knowing he wouldn't be able to hear me very well unless I yelled, banging harder.

The large, older looking alligator turned his eyes to my cage. "M2! SHE'S IN THERE!" I continued, pointing at the door of the lab where the screams still echoed.

The alligator's eyes went white, and within minutes, he had the door ripped off and dove into the room. There was the sound of Kraang droids being ripped apart and then…silence… The seconds ticked by, feeling longer than simple seconds….

And then Leatherhead emerged, carrying M2 in his arms. She was okay. Leatherhead pressed a button on the wall, causing the glass cages to open. M1 ran to the large alligator and reached up for the littlest turtle, whom Leatherhead gingerly turned over with a pat on M1's head.

The other littlest turtles stumbled over to me and I lifted them up into my arms, nuzzling them gently before looked at Leatherhead. "Thank you, Leatherhead."

The large reptile nodded. "C3, children, it has been a while." He continued to pat M1's head. "I'm sorry that I couldn't come faster, are you alright?"

M2 cooed and smiled up at M1 and batted his face with her hand. M1 chuckled in relief, tears streaming from his eyes.

"Have you come to take us, Misthter Latherhead?" D1 asked, his voice lisping on the name.

Leatherhead smiled sadly. "No, little one…I don't have a means of getting to a safe place just yet. But I do have contacts…If I can get in touch with them, then I will be able to get all of you out of here."

I nodded and peaked into the Kraang lab, there was a large white orb sitting on one of the desks. I ran into the room and grabbed it. Shoving it into Leatherhead's arms, I pulled the children away. "Here. Get in touch with your contacts and get us out of here."

Leatherhead nodded and attempted to get it working….Frowning as he did so. "I'm not in range. They have a communication orb…but I'll need to try outside. Maybe there I'll be able to find something to increase the signal."

I nodded and signaled the children to move closer to me. "Then I'll find a place for the children and I to hide."

Leatherhead returned the nod. "Keep these little ones safe, C3. I'll find you soon."

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><p>((We hope you enjoyed our first chapter! Please tell us what you think, good or bad :)<p>

Will continue soon!

~R and R))


	2. Chapter 1: Enter the Turtles

A/N: To clarify something: In this chapter, our beloved turtles will appear. We are going off of the assumption that one season = one year. So until the events of season 3, the turtles of this story will be 16 years old. This does not reflect on our opinion of their ages in the show (which we consider them to be 15 until told otherwise by the illustrious creators). Please don't grab us by the face and shake us like a rag doll.

WE OWN NOTHING!

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

C3, gripping tightly to L1's hand, ran through the Kraang Compound, searching for a way out, keeping her eyes peeled for Traag and Granitor, the ones assigned to guard the compound. The 1s were carrying their smaller siblings, seeing as they wouldn't be able to keep up with their longer legged siblings.

Stopping at a corner near the exit, C3 lifted a hand for the 1s to stop, then motioned for them to be quiet. Peeking around the corner, she spotted a highly inconspicuous and difficult to spot alcove, not that far away. Looking around for any cameras or Kraang, and finding none, she gestured for the children to follow her.

Making their way carefully across the hallway and into the alcove, C3 shoved the smaller ones into the space. "Stay here. R1, you are in charge until I get back."

"What?" M1 whined.

"You heard her." R1 replied in a snarky tone. "I'm in charge."

"Watch out for each other and stay hidden, okay?"

"Okay C3." R1 replied, the snarky tone gone, replaced by seriousness.

L2 squirmed in his sister's arms, reaching for the oldest clone. "C-C!"

C3 reached over and hushed the smallest boy. "I'll be right back, L2. Stay with your sister."

"C-C! C-C!" The older L placed a thumb in the baby's mouth, hoping to keep him quiet.

C3 nodded to them and quickly vanished into the darkness, searching for a way out.

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><p>"T-Turtles, the Kr-Kraang have perfected the mutagen, they're about to-" Leatherhead's glitchy voice echoed through Donatello's lab. This was clearly the large mutant alligator's way of sending an SOS.<p>

"Leatherhead! He's alive!" Michelangelo exclaimed joyfully.

"It must be the portal! As soon as it opened, his signal came through!"

"Let's go! He needs us!"

"Mikey, you stay here."

"Why?"

"You've been messing up too much, lately. We can't take the chance…that you could get hurt."

"Aw man…Leatherhead…"

"MIKEY!"

"AFTER HIM!"

Before they knew it, Leonardo, Raphael and Donatello tumbled out into the pink skied universe of Dimension X.

"Come on. We've gotta find Mikey!" Raph said, setting the way towards the small planetoid they wanted to start on.

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><p><em>Okay…okay…gotta find an exit. Don't panic…they are gonna be just fine…don't worry about M2 getting away…just…calm…down.<em>

Unfortunately, the silent mantra wasn't working all that well, and C3 found herself suddenly surrounded by Kraang.

_How did they find me?!_

"Kraang, Kraang has found one of the captives known as the clones. It is the one called clone C3. Kraang will bring clone C3 back to that which is known as the Kraang's lab by Kraang."

_NO! NO NO! This was NOT how this was to turn out!_

The Kraang surrounded her on all sides, leaving no way for her to escape. Two seized C3's arms and dragged the struggling turtle away.

Throwing her unceremoniously back in her cage was just the right amount of insult to injury. And looking around the room, C3 saw Traag and Granitor tossing R1 and M1 into their respective cages.

"LET ME GO, GRANITOR!" R1 shouted at the large rock monster, attempting to swipe at it. "You big bully!"

"You better not scratch my shell, Traag!" M1 shouted in kind. "I just polished it!"

The others were already in their cages, the babies wailing beside C3 while the older ones seemed more outraged than upset.

Soon, Traag and Granitor made their way to their posts, guarding them once more. Tricking them once was luck…a second attempted wouldn't be possible unless they were distracted by something outside of this room.

_Stupid stupid stupid!_

Time passed and each of the clones fell quiet, sinking back into their cages. R1 and L1 attempted to amuse themselves by making condensation pictures while M1 and D1 stuck to twiddling their thumbs. The babies curled up together and quickly fell asleep, much to C3's reli—

That's when the doors opened and two Kraang stepped inside. C3, instantly on edge, stood.

"Kraang, the test, which is known as the test, is ready for the one known as clone D2."

"Affirmative, Kraang. Kraang will collect the clone which is known as D2 for the test which is the test which will be given by Kraang."

And C3 went berserk. Banging on the glass, hoping it would shatter so she could ring the necks of these psychotic globules of brain-like sputum that had held them too long. They had killed two of them already, and D2 wasn't nearly as strong physically as the others. M2 may be the baby, but C3 was convinced that D2 has some sort of condition.

The Kraang bots reached into the cage where the babies slept and yanked the infant turtle they sought, waking the others. Once the babies saw what happened, they began to wail, which woke the older ones from their stupor, who shoot to their feet and join me in banging and screaming, pleading for D2's life.

The Kraang do not heed the clones and take the screaming D2 to the room next door.

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><p>Please Read and Review!<p>

Thanks!

~Rachel and Renee


	3. Chapter 2

Hello all! Rachel and Renee here! Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

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><p>Chapter 2:<p>

Finding Mikey was the easy part, finding Leatherhead proved to be more difficult.

"Ok, I've got good news and bad news." Mikey said, hanging upside down from his launch worm.

"What's the good news?" Leo asked.

"There's thousands of Kraang droids in there."

"I said GOOD news!"

"I know." Suddenly Traag and Granitor appeared in the doorways. "That's the bad news."

Mikey, seeming to have a serious super power here in Dimension X, took care of the large monsters with ease and then lead them into the Kraang compound. White eyes and stealth lead them right to Leatherhead's cell. Stopping the Kraang from torturing the large, aged alligator sighed in relief.

"Thank you, my friends."

"Dude, what happened to you? Did you forget to moisturize or something? You look so…much older…" Mikey said, genuine concern for his friend flooding his voice.

"I have been here for many decades, disrupting and finding out the Kraang's plans."

"Wait…So that means that…time must pass here differently than in our dimension." Donnie concluded.

"Correct." Leatherhead replied. "And I need your help."

"What? Rescuing you wasn't help enough?" Raph asked, sarcastically.

Leatherhead growled at Raph. "The Kraang's plan ran deeper than we originally thought. Not only do they plan on taking over the world, they…" Leatherhead paused. "Maybe…it's better if I show you."

The four turtles looked at each other and followed after the aged reptile.

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><p>Leatherhead lead the four teens down an increasingly darkening hallway, a hallway that remained somewhat silent until a world shattering scream echoed down it.<p>

Almost without warning, Leatherhead growled something incoherent, and Mikey noticed the "crazy eyes" come out. The large gator charged down the hallway, stealth no longer an option. Mikey and his brothers were hot on his heels.

Though it was Donnie that was visibly shaken by the scream.

It…It reminded him of April's scream…

They arrived at a large metal door and Leatherhead immediately started trying to tear it down. Donnie, who noticed the dilemma, attempted to access the access panel beside the door…only to be pushed out of the way by Raph, who unceremoniously smashed the panel to bits, forcing the door to open.

Leatherhead charged into the room, followed by Mikey, bang rocks at the ready. "BOOYAKASHA!"

Leo, Raph and Donnie followed a fraction later, weapons drawn and white eyed.

Only to be met by 4 glass cages housing…turtles…

And not just any turtles…

_Mutant turtles…_

"LEATHERHEAD!" An older female screamed from her individual cage. "SHE'S IN THERE! D2! THEY TOOK HER! _SAVE HER!_"

Needless to say, the crazy eyes were back, and Mikey took charge. "Donnie! Get these turtles out of here!"

"Roger that!" Donnie replied, turning to another access panel and covering it before Raph attempted to break it. "NOT THIS ONE! You could hurt them!"

Raph thought about it and stepped away. He looked around the room, suddenly two people short.

Leatherhead, with Mikey right behind him, had burst into the room next door, smoke pouring out and the sound of Kraang droids and screams echoing all the louder.

Donnie's fingers moved at frightening speeds, trying his best to get the—GOT IT!

Soon the glass around the turtles fell away, and Raph and Leo found themselves having to bar the door to the other room as 5 turtles, ranging in height from just shorter than Donnie to about the top of Raph's leg.

A difficult feat, but they managed…kinda.

Suddenly, all sound from the other room stops. The whirling of Kraang droids to the screams.

All of it stops.

And silence descends…

Before a large shadow appears behind the two ninjas, and a deep voice is heard. "I have her."

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><p>From that point, things fell into a chaos of sorts.<p>

C3 and D1 were pulling at Leatherhead, wanting to hold the baby. The large gator willingly surrendered the baby to the older D, before being swamped by questions and whines of the little ones.

"Who these guys, Mister Leatherhead?" R1 demanded.

"Why they look like us, Mister Leatherhead?" M1 asked, staring at Mikey.

L1 was pulling on Leatherhead's scales. "Mister Leatherhead! Mister Leatherhead!"

Meanwhile, the babies were having the time of their lives. M2 had managed to crawl over to Mikey and latch herself onto one of his legs. Mikey, who wasn't quite sure if he should squeal at the cuteness or shake her off, was in a bit of a pickle.

Raph, on the other hand, was having a problem of his own. Seeing as R2 had made his way over to the large turtle and had proceeded to smack his legs. And for a little guy, he had quite the arm.

After a few moments of pain shooting through his leg, Raph finally looks down and actually kicks a the kid. Which only leads to R2 smacking him harder.

"Aw crud nuggets," The red banded turtle muttered and picked up the sprite by one of those strong arms. "_What_ exactly_ is going on here?"_

Leo in a slight state of confusion, looked around at the chaos, not really sure what exactly to do, just surveyed the craziness until his eyes caught set of large blue eyes staring up at him. A very cute L2 had made his way over to the leader in blue and proceed to stare at Leo, with the cutest puzzled expression on his face.

It took all the discipline of years of ninja training to not reach down and coo at the smaller turtle. But the leader in blue could not help but aw at the baby. "_Kawaii!_" He muttered, hoping that Raph wouldn't hear him.

Raph was having enough problems of his own to hear the Japanese word. R2 was stronger than he looked and had managed to use Raph's arm like a tree limb, swinging repeatedly, attempting to kick the older turtle in the face.

"Leatherhead! WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?" The turtle proceeded to rage as he tried to stop the baby.

Leatherhead was also having problems of his own. R1 and M1 hadn't stopped their verbal assault, pounding the aged alligator with a million and one questions, while L1 seemed content to pull lightly at Leatherhead's arm.

It was at her, that his patience ran out.

"What do you want, L1?!"

The tone of the large gator effectively silenced the room. L1, mid pull, looked down in embarrassment, played with her hand for a moment before looking up, sheepishly. "I'm hungry…"

Leatherhead, trying to the best of his ability to not explode, patted the child on the head. "In time, L1. We will be out of here and get some food."

Mikey, who had sort of snapped out of his cute stupor, was the first to agree. "We should probably find an exit, before the 'you-know-who' come back."

R1 and M1 looked at each other and gave a questioning look at Mikey. "Traag and Granitor?" They asked.

"No." The Kraang garbed Mikey replied, bouncing M2 in his arms "The K-dudes."

To which, Mikey only received blank stares.

C3, understanding what Mikey was talking about, leaned down and whispers in M1 and R1's ears, "The Kraang."

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" They replied in unison.

"Why didn't you just say so?" R1 asked.

"Long story. It, and my face, can wait." Donnie replied.

"Let's move." Leo said, katana drawn in one hand and L2 in the other.

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><p>"Donnie! Got a power source for your Turtle Mech!"<p>

"Mikey, you are a genius."

On the roof top of the building, the 13 turtles stood to a certain extent. Mikey casually hanging off the building, M2, who still thought they were in Dimension X and had attempted to crawl off the edge of the building, snug in Mikey's arm.

Leatherhead, with R1, R2, D1 and D2 hanging off of his arms, climbed carefully to the roof and set the four turtles down.

Leo, watching the proceedings, still had L2 snug in his arms, who was nuzzling him.

C3 and Donnie stood studying each other not too far away. A million questions to be asked, but not sure how to word them. D1 made his way over to C3 and pulled at her hand. "Yes, D1." C3 asked.

"Why is he so tall?" D1 one asked, not too quietly, looking pointedly at Donnie.

Raph, skulking a bit, stood with his arms crossed, because of the lack of answers. M1 and L1 had noticed this, and proceeded to make funny faces at the stone faced, red masked turtle.

"So…I guess I'll just ask the question everyone wants to know the answer to…" Leo started off, looking pointedly at Leatherhead. "Who are these turtles and what is going on?"

Leatherhead nodded towards the leader in blue. "All will be answered. Please, let us go to your place of refuge before I tell this tale."

Leo, looking at Raph, Donnie and Mikey – who each nodded, turned to Leatherhead and nodded. "Alright. Let us be quick."

L2 tapped on Leo's plastron, prompting the leader to look down at him. Once L2 had Leo's attention, he smiled and promptly pronounced, "Mop Mop!"

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><p>And that's all for now! Please leave us a review! We'd love to know what you guys think!<p>

~R & R


	4. Chapter 3

Hey guys! Here's the next chapter!

The only things we own are Turtles from Dimension X! All other characters belong to Nickelodeon and all associated with TMNT.

We're just dabbling in the sand box!

Enjoy! ~R & R

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><p>Chapter 3: A Very Interesting Tale<p>

The journey to the lair was uneventful, and for once, Leo was glad that Master Splinter had confined himself to his room. Considering that since the number of turtles had tripled, the sound level had also tripled.

Leatherhead had attempted to herd the children into Donnie's lab, one of the larger rooms that was also decently sound proof.

L1, holding on to Leatherhead's hand, leads the way.

D1, holding a rather curious D2, followed Leatherhead's lead.

R1, holding tightly to a tight gripped R2, was a bit more hesitant, considering the foreign environment, but eventually fell into step behind the mutant gator.

M2, still in Mikey's arms, was demanding that the older turtle toss her into the air. "UP! UP!"

"No!" Mikey replied, scared he would drop her.

M1, noticing Mikey's dilemma, waltzed over and held out his arms. "Come here, Emmie."

Mikey willingly handed the child over to the slightly older child, who proceeded to do exactly as M2 demanded, leaving Mikey dumbfounded.

L2, still snuggled in Leo's arms, with no signs of wanting to move, stuck his thumb in his mouth, which Leo gently pulled out. The baby, not liking this turn of events, started to fuss. C3, noticing the rising problem, walked over to Leo. "Turn him towards me, I got this."

Leo, not having any other reason not to, turned the infant towards C3, who made an exaggerated wide smile at L2 before covering her eyes.

"Where's L2?" She asked. "Where'd he go?" After a moment, she removed her hands from her eyes and smiled widely at L2. "THERE HE IS!"

That got the baby to laugh. She did it two more times before the baby completely forgot about his thumb.

"Alright, children," Leatherhead summoned from the center of Donnie's lab. "Donatello, do you have any comfy pillows for these young ones to sit on?"

The tallest turtle nods and drags Mikey to help him carry pillows. Raph keeps close to the door, where he can keep an eye on everyone. Leo, to go and assist his brothers, reluctantly hands over L2 to C3. The baby proceeds to fuss, and no amount of peek-a-boo is enough to console him until Leo is back in his line of sight.

It took a couple of minutes before the three teenagers returned with a large pile of comfy and worn pillows. Placing them in a circle around Leatherhead, L1 was the first to sit, a sign of trust. D1, M1 and C3 followed the child's lead, and R1, grudgingly, did so after a moment.

Leo, Donnie and Mikey retreated to stand by Raph.

Leatherhead nodded as everyone got comfortable. "This tale is long overdue." The aged mutant said, leaning heavily on his cane. "First, I should begin by introducing our hosts." Leatherhead started, gesturing towards the masked turtles. "The blue masked one is Leonardo."

D1 raised his hand.

"Yes, D1?" Leatherhead acknowledged.

"What's blue?"

Leatherhead let out a sigh. "The one on the far left is Leonardo."

"Ohhhhh…"

"Beside him is Raphael, then Donatello, and finally, Michelangelo."

As D1 heard all the names, his eyes widened.

"And it seems only fair to also introduce the turtles you have welcomed into your home, sons of Splinter." Reaching beside him, he placed a large, webbed hand on L1's head. With his other hand, he gestured to C3. "This is the oldest, C3. She had two older siblings, C1 and C2…but…they are no longer among us."

D1, M1, L1 and R1 simultaneously bowed their heads briefly at the mention of C1 and C2.

C3 dropped her gaze at the mention of her siblings, holding L2 a bit tighter in her arms.

Leatherhead reached out and beckoned R1 towards him. The stubborn turtle did as she was told, begrudgingly and came to stand by the aged gator. "This is R1, with her brother R2. She is the next oldest." Leatherhead gestured to D1, who did not stand, but nodded at the acknowledgement. "D1 with D2, his sister." The gator proceeded to rub L1's head, affectionately. "This is L1 with L2 in the arms of C3. And finally," Leatherhead gestured to M1 who was desperately trying to keep M2 sitting in his lap. "M1 and M2."

M1 seized M2's hand and waved it at the masked turtles. "Say hi, Emmie!"

Mikey blinked, and waved at the small Ms. "Hi!"

"And now that we are all introduced…I can proceed with the story."

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><p>Leatherhead's gruff voice was somehow very soothing when it came to storytelling. Even M2, as rambunctious as she was, calmed at the story, her eyes focused on the large gator.<p>

With both hands on his cane, the massive mutant began his story.

"It began two years ago, Earth time, which runs much slower here, children, then in Dimension X, Leonardo, his brothers and I infiltrated a Kraang lab. We needed to stop them from bringing Traag to Earth. When they arrived, they were not familiar with the Kraang air as you are, and passed out.

"While unconscious, the Kraang originally intended to harm the turtles, but instead decided to collect spit from each of them for experimentation."

Donnie's eyes widened, he was beginning to guess what happened next, but kept his mouth shut.

"When Traag and I returned here and the turtles were forced to retreat, a Kraang slipped through the portal, with the vials. Almost immediately, the Kraang began to experiment on the DNA from the spit and attempted to combine the four codes to make a super turtle. Two of these attempts failed, but one did survive."

C3, who had heard this story before, bowed her head slightly.

"Nine Kraang years passed before another Kraang theorized that maybe they didn't have to combine the DNA in order to create a super turtle, but could simply enhance the DNA they already had. Their first attempts were more successful than the combined experiments. While they were good, the Kraang wanted perfect, and attempted again after 7 more years of enhancing the DNA and delays by their main plan of taking over Earth."

Mikey, entranced by the story didn't mind being a bit lost. Leo was trying to piece together the almost cryptic answer that Leatherhead was trying to explain. Donnie had more and more data to support the assumption he'd already come up with. And Raph was paying attention with feigned interest.

"The most recent batch of clones proved to be what the Kraang were looking for, because when I stormed into the lab earlier, there was no sign of any other experiments being started."

"Granted, you did smash everything to bits, Leatherhead." Mikey cut in. "They probably won't be able to do that experiment again, right D?"

Donnie shrugged. "Hopefully it was the only lab with that information."

"If it wasn't, Donatello, I will need your help in removing it from the Kraang's data base."

The purple masked turtle nodded.

"Sorry to interrupt," R1 butted in. "But what does this have to do with anything? We all know this story! We are those experiments!"

"He's trying to tell us, R1, that Raphael is your father." D1 butted in.

The whole room went dead quiet.

"Whoa, whoa. Back up." Raph began. "How am I her father? Brother I'd get, but father? Seems too farfetched."

"Well, he's half right." Donnie said, holding a hand out at his brother. "What Leatherhead is saying is that these are our genetic duplicates. The Kraang cloned us."

Leo lifted an eyebrow. "Unless I missed that lesson in biology, girls can't be genetic duplicates of guys."

"Well, this is the Kraang we are talking about, buddy boy." R1 sassed back.

"Then they are genetically similar, which siblings are to each other."

Leo nodded, accepting that answer.

"I would need to run some tests to confr—"

C3 was on her feet in a moment and standing between the tallest turtle and the children. If looks could kill, Donnie would have been obliterated.

"So, you brought us from one scientific den to another! I thought you cared about us, Leatherhead!"

"Th-that's not what I meant!" Donnie tried to defend himself.

But C3 was having none of that. She scooped D2 and L2 into her arms and started to herd the children, when Leatherhead stopped her. "Peace, child. Hear him out."

C3 glared at the large gator, but couldn't stay mad at his peaceful face for long. Still keeping a grip on the two babies in her arms, she turned to face Donnie.

Once Donnie was sure he (and his face) were safe, he continued. "What I meant was that I'd need to test your spit to confirm if we are twins, siblings or something different."

C3 looked skeptical. "You can get all that from some spit?"

Donnie nodded, and before he could go into a discussion about DNA, Leo stepped forward.

"How about, as a sign of good faith, I have Donnie perform the test on me. I'm his brother, and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't do something to me that he wouldn't do on himself. Then he can perform it on Mikey, Raph and himself, and then, if you feel more comfortable, he can do it on you."

C3 considered it. "It'll be the same test, right? Down to the last detail?"

"Cross my shell." Donnie promised.

C3 felt a tug on her arm and looked down. It was L1 staring up at her. "It's an honorable request." The small turtle said, bright blue eyes full of trust.

After a moment of staring at those blue eyes, C3 sighed in defeat. "Alright. But if any of the babies cry, not even Leatherhead will stop me from hurting you, Donatello."

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><p>Hope you enjoyed!<p>

Please leave us a review! We'd love to know what you think!


	5. Chapter 4

Hey guys! Sorry for the delay! Thanks for your continued interest!

We'll be working on a posting schedule and get back to you guys by the next chapter!

Again, all we "own" are the non-canon turtles and plot. Everything else belongs to Nick and the great creators behind this series! Please don't sue us!

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><p>Chapter 4:<p>

Leo sat calmly on Donnie's exam table, watching as his taller brother collected the items he needed for the collection of DNA. C3 stood not that far away, watching Donnie through thinned eyes. Below Leo's feet, little L2 was reaching up for the leader in blue's foot.

At one point, he succeeded and managed to stick his finger between two of Leo's toes.

The blue masked turtle's foot jerked a bit and he looked down, ready to pull his foot away, but stopped and began to swing the foot a bit, allowing L2 to play with his toes.

Donnie, stepping around the small child on the floor, held a large tipped swab in front of Leo's face. The older brother opened his mouth and the fluffy end of the swab scratched the inside of his cheeks. After a moment, Donnie slipped the swab into a test tube and turned to C3. "And that's it."

C3, still very skeptical, nodded.

Donnie repeated the experiment with 100% accuracy on the rest of his brothers and then on himself before turning to C3. "Alright. I've repeated it to the letter on all of us…can I proceed to you and the smaller ones?"

C3, looking around for a moment, considering it. He had repeated it to the letter and it didn't look painful. Biting her lip, she nodded, hesitantly. "Fine."

Donatello smiled a bit and collected more swabs while C3 called in L1, R1, D1 and M1.

C3 was the first to subject herself to the test, and then R1 and D1 without much fuss. L1, who was still hungry, made her displeasure known quite loudly. Donnie turned to Leo for help.

"Mikey's cooking up something for lunch, L1. As soon as we are done here, you can feast to your heart's content."

L1 stared at Leo with wide blue eyes. "I don't know what that means, but it sounds yummy."

Leo blinked and smiled. "Well, you better open your mouth, then."

Continuing without a hitch to M1, who didn't fuss, Donnie put the swabs in separate test tubes and turned to C3. "Now I just need to see the youngest ones and we are done here."

C3 hesitated again, but nodded. She stepped out and came back with D2 and L2 curled in her arms and R2 and M2 hanging off of her shoulders.

Donnie, impressed, brought the swabs over to her to begin. "Alright, who should I start with?"

"Probably L2." C3 stated, gesturing to the baby in her right arm.

Preparing himself, Donnie held the swab a distance from L2 face. "C'mon L2," his voice sweet. "Open up."

L2 stared at Donnie's face, giving the equivalent of Leo's puzzled expression and didn't open his mouth. Donnie, thinking he might be in a tad bit over his head, he turned to his eldest brother and handed him the swab.

The leader in blue took it and the two of them traded spots. Once Leo was in L2's line of sight, his mouth dropped open. Leo made a similar face, mimicking a mom who was feeding a baby food.

Donnie, in utter shock and purple ponytail standing on end, muttered "What!"

The funny face was enough for M2 to open her mouth and R2 chuckled. Leo nabbed a swab from M2 and then turned to R2, who didn't open his mouth readily.

That's when Mikey barged into the lab. "DUDES! DUDES!"

"What, Mikey?" Donnie demanded.

Mikey, wide eyed and flailed his arms around. "We're all out of cheese!"

Donnie slapped Mikey. "Did you check the back of the fridge?"

R2, who wouldn't previously open his mouth, started to laugh. Leo took that opportunity to slip the swab in and pull it out before the child could bite it.

That only left D2. The small turtle was looking all over the room, a gaze that Leo was familiar with. Donnie had that look when he was looking for something interesting.

Donnie must have recognized it, because he went over to his book shelf and pulled out a turtle anatomy poster and placed it in front of the baby, whose mouth proceeded to drop open. So intense was her gaze that she didn't notice or cry when Leo swabbed the inside of her mouth.

"Done." Leo said, putting the swabs in tubes, as he had seen his brother do.

"Excellent!"

"OW! M1! YOU ARE SO GONNA GET IT!"

Unsure of exactly what had happened, the older turtles watched as M1 bolted out of the room, R1 hot on his heels.

* * *

><p>Outside of the lab, Raph was sitting on the couch, flipping through the channels, when two of the 7 year olds burst into the room. At first the older turtle ignored them, thinking that they were just burning energy. That is, until they bumped into the television…<p>

M1, still used to Kraang gravity, forgot to stop and comically slid into the television with R1 on his tail. The television swayed on its stand and almost fell over…if it hadn't been for Raph's ninja training.

"Okay, you two. What's going on here?" The red masked turtle asked, eyes white.

M1, extremely freaked out, took three big steps back.

R1, unfazed by the white eyes, pointed at the other clone. "He hit me with those chain things."

"Chain things?" Raph asked, blinking his eyes to normal and looking at M1 questioningly.

M1, still a bit freaked out, raised his hands to reveal two nunchakus in his hands.

"How did you get Mik—"

As if on cue, Mikey's voice wailed through the lair. "DUDES! Where did I put my chucks?!"

"I think I found them, Mikey."

Mikey dashed into the room, eyes wide, looking all over the place before coming over to Raph. "Where? Where!"

Raph stood the TV upright and pointed to M1.

"Dude….How did you get my nunchucks!" Mikey asked M1.

"He's a professional pick-pocket." R1 deadpanned.

"AM NOT!"

"Ok. New rule, guys, we need to keep our weapons under lock and key." Leo said, stepping into the room with L2 hanging off of him.

"I couldn't agree more," Donnie replied. "Ow!"

Somehow R2 had managed to come up behind Donnie and slap the back of his calf. When he got a response from Donnie, he continued to slap the green appendage. Starting to hop from one foot to another to avoid the slaps, the older turtle tried his best to move away.

Raph started to laugh. "Looks like I'm not the only one who enjoys the Donnie puppet."

"Very-ow-funny, Raph!"

C3, deciding that R2 had enough fun for the time being, scooped the child up and placed him on her shoulders. The child, content with this arrangement, crawled around the back of her neck and laid down like a mink scarf.

Raph and Donnie blinked. "So that's how you calm him down?"

"Yep. It's the closest he can get to me so he can—" A light snore emitted from the child. "Fall asleep."

"Interesting…"

D1 poked his head out of the lab. "Has anyone seen-"

"_DONATELLO!_"

"…Never mind…"

* * *

><p>Hope you enjoyed!<p>

Next chapter will be up soon!

Please leave a review, good or bad. We'd love to know how we are doing!

~R & R


	6. Chapter 5

Hello all! Here's another chapter for you!

Please let us know what you think. We'd love your feedback!

~R&R

* * *

><p>Chapter 5<p>

"_DONATELLO!_"

The called turtle cringed at the use of his full name.

C3, L2 and M2 all jumped at the sound of the new voice. R2, around C3's shoulders, flinched at the sudden movement, but didn't awaken. R1 and L1 instinctively shrunk into their shells. D1 fled back into the lab and M1 hid behind the closest person to him, which happened to be Mikey.

A tall rat strolled out from the dojo area, a small turtle held upright in his arms. D2, smiling broadly, laughed.

"Does this belong to you?"

Mikey sighed in relief. "Oh Master Splinter, you found her! ...Wait… How did you know she was Donnie's?"

The rat raised an eyebrow at Michelangelo. "She looks just like he did as a child."

"Oh…"

The ninja master walked over to Donnie and held out the girl towards him. "Better keep a close eye on her. She'll be trouble if you don't."

D2 laughed and started biting on Donnie's mask tails.

The ninja seemed so nonchalant about seeing more turtle mutants in his home…it bothered Leo. "Sensei?"

The master ignored his student for a moment and turned to C3. "I think, boys, you have some explaining to do."

It was then that the boys realized that their master was being calm for the sake of the children in the room…not because he wasn't surprised or upset.

"Well, you see, there was a portal that opened up in Donnie's lab, and Leatherhead was trying to warn us about—" Mikey began.

"—The Kraang's plans to take over Earth." Raph picked up. "So Mikey went through and we followed after him."

"While in there, Leatherhead lead us to a lab, where we found these turtles being experimented on," Donnie continued, holding D2 a bit tighter. "We couldn't just leave them behind."

"So, we brought them with us." Leo finished. "They have no place to go…and from what Leatherhead said-"

"I thought we needed a family get together." A booming voice from behind Splinter interjected.

C3, almost jumping out of her shell at the sound of the booming gator's voice, turned her attention to the monstrous creature. After a moment, noting that there were no crazy eyes and that Leatherhead appeared calm…and old as he leaned on his staff, C3 gestured to the younger turtles. "Ok, dears, let's move back to the lab."

Donnie, understanding that C3 was probably worried about a fight breaking out, places D2 into her care and turns his full attention to his master, waiting for the blow to strike.

A blow, which didn't really come.

Sensei, his eyes tired and his frame shriveled from grief, sighed and lowered his shoulders as the foreign turtles left the room. "Will they be safe in there, Donatello?"

"Yes, I have all my chemicals away."

"Good. Now, Leatherhead, please explain to me what you learned of the Kraang's plot."

Leatherhead bowed his massive head and began to explain his tale.

Splinter listened to Leatherhead's tale, stroking his beard, taking it all in. As farfetched and crazy as it sounded, considering that he, his sons and the gator before him were also rather farfetched, Splinter was inclined to believe the story.

"So, it was compassion that brought you to bring them to our home."

"Hai, Sensei." Leo and the other's caroused.

"Can we keep them, Master Splinter?" Mikey piped up, eyes wide and begging.

Splinter had expected this from his youngest son and considered the request.

"Please, master…." Leo continued. "They have nowhere to go."

Splinter looked towards his oldest son. Since the incident with Karai, his eldest had been more somber, serious and quiet than usual. They rarely spoke, and Splinter thought that it might be because he knew Leonardo blamed himself.

The begging in Leo's eyes was different than that of Mikey's. While his youngest son's plea was no less genuine, Leo's seemed different. As if he was begging Splinter to accept _him_ too.

Splinter sighed and lowered his eyes. "Alright, they may stay."

Mikey whooped in joy.

"Though, considering that the Kraang are plotting to come back, and in greater force, we may need to move them, eventually to some place safer."

"Hai, Sensei." Leo agreed, attempting to hide the relief in his voice.

Splinter turned to his eldest, who's head was bowed and was about to say something, when a small green head poked into the dojo.

"I'm still hungry," L1 said, her blue eye wide.

Mikey, Donnie, Leatherhead and even Raph started chuckling and Splinter couldn't help but smile. "Leonardo, would you find this little one something to eat."

"Hai, Sensei," the leader in blue said as he bowed and stood. Walking over to L1, he couldn't help but smile and held out a hand. "Come, L1. I'll get you something."

L1 took his hand and the two headed back to the kitchen.

* * *

><p>Within Donatello's lab, the purple masked turtle worked feverishly with his DNA equipment. Pipetting the DNA carefully into the gel, his tongue peeked out of his mouth in concentration. Granted, this wasn't a perfect paternity test…but it was the best he had.<p>

Smiling at the gel when he finished, he turned on the electromagnetic fluid tank that the gel sat in. In fifteen minutes, he'd be halfway done in finding out a result.

Turning away from the gel, he caught sight of a small turtle sitting not too far away, staring at the gel with curiosity. Donnie wasn't sure how long D1 had been sitting there, but he was grateful that he hadn't touched anything.

"So…this'll tell us if I'm right?" D1 piped up.

Donnie blinked at the younger turtle. "Yeah, I guess." He sat down beside the smaller turtle that looked like him.

"What….what if we aren't related to you and your brothers at all?" the smaller turtle asked, softly, an anxiety filling him.

Donnie's arm moved before he could tell it to do so, wrapping around his younger duplicate. "I don't think that'll change much. We aren't going to turn you all away just because we aren't related. I have two human friends who aren't related to us at all, but they are practically family."

D1 nodded, not completely convinced, but willing to accept what Donnie said. Leaning into Donnie's arm, the little turtle relaxed a bit. The masked turtle found himself rubbing the child's arm, hopefully in a soothing manner as they waited for the timer to go off.

The minutes ticked by quietly, though out of the lab, noise could be heard as Mikey played with M1 and M2. Leo had roped L1 and L2 into watching _Space Heroes_, while Raph was tolerating R2 beating up his foot. R1, on the other hand, was occupying D2.

_BRINNGGGG_

The timer wailed, startling Donnie and D1 out of their thoughts. With a soft pat on D1's shoulder, Donnie stood and turned off the electromagnetic tank. After a few moments, he pulled out the gel. "D1, do you mind handing me those paper towels?"

D1, picking up several of said sheets, brought them to the older turtle. "Are we done yet?"

"Not just yet. First I need to put a strip of bromide laced paper onto the gel. It'll act like film from a camera and transfer the DNA data to the sheet. Then, after another 10 minutes, I'll need to transfer the sheet to a positive, another stiffer gel, and then we can read the results."

D1 nodded. "Can I help?"

"With the Bromide, no. It's a cancer causing agent, and I don't want to expose you to those chemicals."

D1 pouted slightly, but nodded. "What is cancer?"

Donnie, donning a pair of specially modified gloves, carefully pulls the out the gel. "Cancer is when the cells in the body mutate and form a mass or clump of cells. It can cause serious problems if it can travel throughout the body."

D1 frowned. "But…I thought our cells were already mutated!" His eyes widened. "Are we going to die!?"

Donnie placed the gel on a paper towel. "No, D1. Our mutation was…good, in a sense. It made us sentient and able to act like humans. The kind of mutations that cause cancer are on a cellular level, and cause them to grow weird."

A look of relief washed over D1. "Oh…Ok."

Donnie smiled at the smaller turtle and then turned to the bromide paper. Carefully applying it and placing it in another small tub of fresh solution. "Alright, now we wait for another 15 minutes. Anything you want to do, D1?" Donnie asked, taking off the gloves and washing his hands in a nearby sink.

D1 was startled out of his thoughts. "Uh…I don't know."

Donnie set the timer and smiled at the smaller turtle. "Maybe we could grab a bit to eat?"

The small turtle thought for a moment. "Ok."


	7. Chapter 6

Hey guys! Welcome back to a new chapter.

Thanks to all that have faved and viewed our story. We really appreciate your support. We would very much like more reviews. So, if you can, at the end of the chapter, just send us a little note. What you liked. What you didn't like. :) It would really really be great. You can be anonymous if you like, and we won't hunt you down! We may even reply!

Thanks for everything, guys!

~R&R

* * *

><p>Chapter 6<p>

C3 was incredibly bored. Her hosts were busy keeping the little ones busy (and fawning over them), so C3 thought it would best to give them time to get to know each other.

The lair was small, smaller than C3 imagined it would be. There was not much to do. She had already turned her brains to mush with the new discovery of the television and had no desire to watch the contraption for at least a week.

Instead, she decided to explore the remaining parts of the lair that she hadn't seen. The oldest, maskless turtle first wandered down the corridor where four strong, metal doors were. She timidly opened one of the doors and was met with the sight of a bedroom. A bedroom with about fifteen cans of "Kaput" bug spray on the headboard of the bed.

_Raph's room,_ she thought, for she had newly been acquainted with Raphael's apparent katsaridaphobia. So, she guessed that the rest of the doors, since there were four, were the others' bedrooms.

Now, C3 was not a snoopy turtle, so she left the rooms, not wanting to pry into the private lives of her hosts. They would further inform her about their lives when they were ready.

Finding nothing interesting in that part of the lair, C3 silently moved towards an area that she hadn't seen anyone go near…except Master Splinter. This area was sectioned off by tan rice paper doors and had odd but beautiful drawings on them.

She shyly slid open the doors to the room, _Dojo_, she reminded herself. The turtle was surprised to see a growing and green tree in the center of the room, beneath a sewer grate. That and the myriad of weapons displayed on the walls.

One set of weapons caught her eyes, a simple bow and arrow.

C3 was always interested in things that looked innocent, so she picked the weapon up. She had recently seen a picture of an archer and, unconfidently mimicked the stance.

_Now for something to shoot at…_ She looked around the room for any targets or sandbags, when she spotted them not too far away.

_Dart targets. Perfect!_ She was a tad nervous, but told herself, _it's easy. Nothing to worry about. Just pull, shoot, score…._

So, after a long exhale, she let the arrow fly. Closing her eyes as it flew across the room.

It hit something, her ears registered.

Cautiously, she opened her tightly closed eyes….to see something she had not expected.

The arrow had landed right in the bulls-eye!

C3 smiled in victory, but her excitement was cut short as a small clap reached her ears.

Turning sharply, like a kid caught raiding the cookie jar, she muttered. "Dangit…" She bowed and lowered the bow. "M-Master Splinter, I'm so sorry. I didn't ruin anything, I'll put these back." She blubbered as she reluctantly ran and placed the weapons in their place of honor. But just as she was reaching up to place them there, a hand touched her shoulder.

"Show me that again, C3." The ninja master gently commanded.

Puzzled, the maskless turtle picked up the weapons and shot the target again, hitting the bulls-eye once more.

Splinter's eyebrows rose and he silently took the weapons from her, placing them on the wall and returning to his room, leaving a shocked, embarrassed and confused turtle in his wake.

"TEST RESULTS ARE IN!"

* * *

><p>Donnie and D1 stood before the group of turtles. Master Splinter hung back by the Dojo, but was listening intently as his most intelligent son's test results.<p>

"D1 and I have complied the results from the swabs of saliva we collected." Donnie began, smiling out over the blank stares of Mikey, M1 and M2. Raph frowned, ready to pound his brother if he didn't speed this up and keep the scienciness to a minimum. And from the look on R1 and R2's faces, they would join the red masked turtle. Leo sat calmly, listening with L2 in his lap and L1 beside him. C3 held D2 in her lap, listening intently.

Donnie lifted a piece of paper with a strange set of lines on it. "And from the results, we could only conclude with certainty that C3 is our biological sister."

C3 blinked and the smaller turtles bowed their heads.

"D-does that mean…y-you are gonna send us away?" L1 asked hesitantly.

"No! Definitely not." Donnie continued. "I wasn't done. The rest of your DNA has been altered in comparison to Mikey's, Raph's, Leo's, and mine, making you more genetically like children to a parent than as siblings."

"Uh….So…what does that mean? In English?" Mikey asked.

Donnie sighed, figuring out just how to say this. "It means...that, genetically speaking, Leo is L1 and L2's father. Raph is R1 and R2's father. I'm D1 and D2's father, and Mikey, you are M1 and M2's father."

"Wait…Who's a father?" A voice butted in from behind Donnie, causing the purple masked turtle's mask tails to stand on end. "And why are there more than four turtles in this room?"

* * *

><p>April O'Neil was wandering through the sewer, on her way to see the turtles after a rough day at school. After a decent, and all together not uneventful Christmas break, school was a welcomed change. Though it meant that she wasn't able to spend a lot of time with the turtles.<p>

Holding her books tight to her chest, she was trapped in her own thoughts. There had been a lot that had happened, though it was Karai's mutation and Raph's knowledge that the Kraang would be returning that weighed heavily on her mind.

Walking closer to the lair, she could hear voices, Donnie's in particularly.

"…_And Mikey, you are M1 and M2's father_."

_What…?_ Was the thought that slipped into her mind as she jumped over the turnstiles and ran over to Donnie's side.

"Wait. Who's a father?" She blinked, seeing 9 more sets of eyes staring at her than she expected. "And why are there more than four turtles in this room?"

Donnie, whose eyes were still wide with shock, was unable to respond. Leo, seeing his brother's dilemma, stood, L2 still in his arms, and walked over to their human friend. "April, meet the clones. Clones, this is April O'Neil."

M1 in true Mikey style, stood and did two cartwheels over to April, landing in a kneeling position in front of her. "How do you do?"

April blinked at the smaller, maskless version of Mikey. "Uh…Hi. I'm doing good," She replied, feeling awkward. "Clones?"

Leo nodded. "Yeah. The Kraang got a hold of some of our DNA and made clones of us."

April blinked. "But…You've only known about the Kraang for just over a year…These guys look much older than that, especially that one." She points at C3.

C3, feeling challenged, stood up and gave D2 to R1, the look on her face said "Do you want me to come over there and give you a beat down?"

Leo, not wanting a fight to break out, turned to C3. "Calm down, Sis. She's a friendly."

"Sis?"

"Yeah. If you haven't noticed, I'm a girl." C3 responded snarkily, making Raph smirk proudly.

"O-okay then."

"It has to do with Time in Dimension X," Donnie, who finally regained control of his vocal cords, said. "It moves much faster there than here."

April raised an eyebrow. "How do you know that?"

"We went there." Mikey piped up. "We had to rescue Leatherhead!"

April blinked as she noticed the large alligator mutant sitting next to Mikey.

"And we had a….few tagalongs on our way home." Raph finished off the explanation.

"This is quite a lot more than a few, Raph." April replied as she smiled at L2, who was staring at her.

L2 looked back at Leo, then April, as if comparing appearances, noting that there was definitely a difference between the two teens.

"Yes, L2, she does look different." Leo said, explaining to the baby.

"L2? You named them numbers and letters?" April demanded.

Leo blinked, now the one stuck in shock.

"No! They came with those names!" Mikey covered.

"The Kraang gave them to us." M1, still kneeling in front of April, said.

"Well, you can't keep them." She narrowed her eyes. "Particularly if the Kraang gave you those. You all need _real_ names."

* * *

><p>AN: And now you guys can see why we want your opinions.

So right down below is a section for a review. Please leave one! Thanks! We'll have an update for you guys next week! ~R&R


	8. Chapter 7: The Search for Names

A/N: Two updates in one week! WOOT!

We are feeling generous. :)

Please leave us a review! Hope you enjoy! ~R&R

* * *

><p>Chapter 7<p>

They had to wait until it was dark before attempting to sit around and discuss names.

The babies had become restless as exhaustion had settled in, making them difficult. Donatello was forced to pull out an old contraption and set it up in the common area. It was large and had a huge light fixture attached at the top. Leo, Raph and Mikey understood and brought L2, R2, D2 and M2 over and placed the crying infants under the fixture. After a moment, Donnie turned the contraption on, coating the babies in a warm light.

Within seconds, they were asleep.

Donnie smiled. "Nothing like the good, old basking lamp to put four baby turtles to sleep."

"Dude!" Mikey turned to him. "How do you do it?"

Donnie smirked at his brother. "Science."

The youngest brother's eyes were so wide, Donnie was pretty sure that Mikey's brain exploded.

The seven year old turtles were keeping themselves entertained with Leatherhead, who had settled down to tell them a story, so Leo gestured for Donnie, Raph, Mikey, C3 and April to follow him into the dojo.

Master Splinter waited for them, kneeling under the tree, eyes closed in meditation. As the teens kneeled around him, he opened his eyes, smiling softly. "My sons and daughters, are the younger ones distracted?"

"Hai, Sensei," April said, returning the smile while Donnie pulled out his computer.

"I've pulled up a few name websites," Donnie said when his father turned to him. "Maybe that'll help us find a good number of names."

Raph, looking rather grumpy, crossed his arms. "What if we've already picked out names?"

His brothers looked at him with raised eye brows. "What names, exactly?" Leo asked.

"Brat one and Brat two."

April slapped the red masked turtle. "Those are not good names."

The green eyes narrowed even more and the frown deepened.

"Look, Raph, if you're gonna be a grouch, why don't you take a nap under the basking lamp." Donnie said. "We can work on this and you can have your input later."

The red masked turtle huffed, but didn't go anywhere. Understanding his brother's mood to a point, Leo shrugged and turned to April. "So, how are we going to do this?"

Thinking for a moment, April smiled. "Well, each of you have a girl and a boy, so let's start by looking for girls names. Then we'll regroup and discuss them."

The boys nodded and April looked at C3, "Then you and I can look together for a name for you."

C3 smiled slightly, feeling a tad bit uncomfortable. Even though C3 was the name that the Kraang gave her…it still was her name. But she was free now…so she reasoned, she should have a new name. "Alright, let's get started."

* * *

><p>"How about this one?!" Mikey said, pointing to the fourth name on the page.<p>

"Do you really want your girl named 'Angel' when your own name has 'Angelo' in it?" Donnie replied, trying to reason with his younger brother.

Mikey pouted slightly. "Probably not…"

Donnie patted his head. "It's hard to pick a name. Maybe you should close your eyes for a minute."

Mikey blinked at him. "Why?"

"I want to try something. Close your eyes and think about M2." When Mikey did as he was told, Donnie continued. "What's one word you would use to describe M2?"

Mikey thought hard, sticking out his tongue. It took him a moment, and Donnie hoped that this wouldn't cause his brother's brain to explode. "Sunshine!" Mikey's eyes flew open. "Could we name her Sunny?"

Donnie made a face. "Maybe, but I want to try something first." He typed Sunshine into the search bar, hoping more than one name would come up….he didn't get his wish. "Maybe something a bit broader." He thought for a moment. "What about light! That's sunshine related."

Mikey thought for a moment and shrugged. "Okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Well…naming things is kinda my thing…"

Donnie looked away from his computer and placed his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Mikey, I just want to give you a wider selection of names. If you like Sunny after I show you these names, you can keep that."

Mikey, looking more serious than Donnie was sure he had ever seen him, nodded. "Okay."

Donnie smiled slightly and turned his attention back to his search. Typing in Light into the search bar, a list of names appeared. Mikey looked over his brother's shoulder, checking out the names before sighing "no…"

About half way through the list, Mikey stopped Donnie. "Wait. What does that mean?"

The word the green finger pointed out was "variant". "Variant means either a different spelling or different dialect of the same name."

"Oh…well, what's the original?"

"Let's find out." Donnie clicked on the name "Lucette" where Mikey had spotted the word variant. A name popped up. "Lucy," Donnie read. "Of Latin origin meaning Light."

"I think that's much prettier than Sunny." Mikey commented. "Lucy is her name!"

Donnie smiled at his brother. "One hundred percent sure?"

"Yes! It's cool and pretty, just like she is!"

"Then Lucy it is."

* * *

><p>Several minutes later, the teens regrouped by Master Splinter. "What names have you chosen?" The aged rat asked, stroking his beard.<p>

April looked at C3. "I still haven't settled on a name," The eldest clone stated, too which Splinter nodded.

"More time may be needed for you, my child, and we'll give you all the time you need. April, feel free to continue to assist her, if she likes."

"Hai, sensei," April replied. C3 smiled at the girl, grateful for her help.

Splinter turned to his sons. "Have you decided on names for your daughters?"

The word sounded funny to their ears, but they nodded none the less. Mikey, with a huge grin on his face, spoke up first. "I chose Lucy! Don helped me. He's the best."

Donnie rubbed his brother's head in appreciation of the complement. "I chose Gianna, and Mikey helped me with that one."

The youngest brother beamed. "It means 'God is Gracious'. Isn't that cool!"

Splinter's lip twitched into a smile. "Yes, Michelangelo, both of those names are very beautiful." He turned to his elder sons.

Leo was twiddling his fingers when he spoke up. "I chose Claire, it means 'illustrious'."

Raph scoffed softly, "Might as well name her 'Ms. Perfect'."

Leo gave Raph _the_ look. "Well, if you have a better name, Raph, why don't you spit it out?"

Raph returned the glare, keeping his lips locked.

"Raphael, you will at least voice the name you chose." Splinter spoke up.

Raphael turned his eyes to his master and sighed. "Fine. Elizabeth."

Splinter stroked his beard. "Hm… 'God is my Oath'."

"It's beautiful." C3 said, smiling.

* * *

><p>The group disbanded for sometime to reflect on boy names, before the turtles found themselves seated in a circle once more facing Splinter.<p>

"Have you all decided on names?"

The boys and girls nodded.

Splinter smiled.

As the teens all headed to bed, Master Splinter touched Leonardo's, "Leonardo, may I speak with you."

His master's tone was neutral, and that sent a wave of fear washing over the eldest son. His father and he had been dancing around each other for weeks…and he knew that eventually his father may bring up…that…

"Hai, Sensei," Leo replied, ever the obedient son. Kneeling before his master, he could hear his brothers, sister and April leave the dojo. For several moments, the two mutants were silent, a silence that bothered Leo, but he wasn't brave enough to break it.

"My son, you seem distressed of late." Splinter began, his voice soft and kind. A kindness that nearly broke Leo's heart. "What troubles you?"

Leo felt like a child again. Granted, he technically was one still, but he had been forced to grow up a bit. "I…" The word comes tumbling out, broken from his lips. "I'm so sorry, Master."

Splinter is silent, and the words continue to tumble from Leo.

"I messed up. I should have stopped her, I should have done something. Karai should be here right now, n-not me. I-I failed."

Something collided with Leo's face. It didn't send him sprawling or leave a mark.

No.

Splinter's paw reached over and grabbed Leo by the chin, forcing him to look into his master's brown eyes. They were pained…causing Leo's eyes to sting with tears.

This was it. Splinter was going to send him away…

"My son, please," Hamato Yoshi's voice begged, tears swarming in the rat's eyes. "Please don't blame yourself for this. You have not failed me. You did not mess up. You did your best! You went against what I asked and you brought Miwa home to me! You gave me that gift, Leonardo. To have her in my arms again, and know she was safe and that she wanted to be with me….that is a treasure that not even Shredder himself can take away. Karai made her choice. If we had forced her to stay, we would have been no different than the Shredder."

Leo opened his mouth to protest, tears flooding his eyes. But Splinter stopped him.

"You bear the weight of the world on your shoulders, Leonardo. And as leader, that is admirable. But this is not your burden to carry._ You_ tried to stop Karai. _You_ planned how to rescue her. _You_ attempted to save her when no one else could get to her. _You _did what you could, my son. It was the _Shredder_ that placed her in that cage above the mutagen, and it was the _Shredder_ that cut her down. There was nothing _you_ could do to stop it."

Tears were now flowing freely down both of their cheeks and Splinter gave in to embrace his son. "Please, Leonardo, I forgive you. All will be well, I don't know when, but Karai recognized me, and that gives me hope."

Leo couldn't hold back the sobs anymore and clung to his father. "Arigatou, tousan." Leo whispered into his father's kimono, feeling the absolution from his father wash over him, taking away the weight that had hung over him for so many weeks.

"I love you, my son."

* * *

><p>At dinner the next day, Master Splinter had an announcement. Beckoning his eldest son to his side, the giant rat stroked his beard.<p>

"If everyone is sated, I'd like to have small ceremony for your names."

The babies all blinked at their grandfather, absolutely confused. The seven year olds all quirked the same eyebrow up. The masked turtles ushered the younger ones into the dojo.

April, who had joined them for dinner, smiled. _You'd think they were siblings, not cousins._ At her master's nod, she got up and joined them on their way to the dojo.

* * *

><p>AN: Annnnnnnnnnnd slight cliffy? Meh...

Hope your feels are ok from that Splinter and Leo scene!

Please leave us a review! ~R&R


	9. Chapter 8

A/N: Yay! Time to name these kids!

For the next chapter, we will post a list of who is who so that if you get confused, you'll have a "cheat sheet" of sorts. (We understand there are a LOT of names.)

Also, this is the second draft of this chapter. We had originally wanted to do something a tad bit different...but we weren't quite sure how to do it. We may add it as a drabble later. Please tell us if you would like to see it!

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Chapter 8:<p>

Master Splinter disappeared into his room for a moment as Leo, Raph, Mikey and Donnie got the smaller turtles to sit down in the dojo. April tried to help, but only seemed to exacerbate the problem. The children were so excited that it took the masked turtles to hold the babies to their chests for them to calm enough to be quiet.

C3 sat on April's other side, looking very nervous.

The red head placed a hand on the turtle girl's shoulder. "What's wrong?" She asked, gently.

The turtle looked at her for a moment, before looking down. "What if we picked the wrong name?"

April lifted an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Do you not like your name?"

"No! I like it! Just….what will everyone else say…?"

April gave a look that Raph was known for, "Are you really that concerned about what your brothers, nieces and nephews will think of your new name?"

"Yes. If you haven't noticed, I don't know my new brothers that well. I'm not nearly as concerned about my nieces and nephews about all this as them."

"Ah…" April said, realizing she had hit a mine in the field, but before she can respond, Master Splinter returned, a pile of cloth in his hands.

The master knelt in seiza before the teenagers and children. "Today is a momentous day, my children. With leaving the Kraang, we will leave your original names and start a new life. C3 has agreed to this, and we hope that you will want to join our family as much as we wish you to join us." He looks each of the smaller ones in the eyes. None of them reject it, and excitement seems to burst out of them in wide grins. "Good. Then I will call each of you up here one at a time and present you with the names that your fathers chose for you. But first," he turned his eyes on C3. "Come, my daughter. I shall begin with you."

C3, feeling her cheeks warm, did as she was told and knelt before Master Splinter.

Splinter rested a hand on her shoulder before beginning. "Daughter, you came to us as C3, a brave and strong turtle from Dimension X. The name that you chose for yourself, is just like you. Brave as a bear. Bear it well, Bernadette."

Bernadette bowed.

Master Splinter reached beside him and picked up a folded green mask. Blinking slightly, he hesitated and turned to Leo. "Leonardo, explain."

Leo's face burned, but he responded immediately. "I'm sorry, Sensei. The dye didn't take very well…and it got charred as I was burning the edges…And we didn't have any more of the same fabric and dye to try again."

Splinter nodded and turned to Bernadette. "Please, tell me what you think. If you wish, I will give you a different one."

Bernadette, a bit confused, looked up to see just what Sensei and Leo were talking about. In the rat's hands was a green mask, similar to Leo's….but the tails were interesting. First the green faded to white and then to black. Blinking a bit, she studied it before smiling. "It's perfect." _Green like C1, white was C2's favorite color…and black is mine…Now, I can bring honor to their names._ "I love it."

Splinter smiled and tied the mask around Bernadette's face.

She smiled up at him, her green eyes now framed by the lighter green of the mask. She nodded and moved to get up. But Sensei stopped her. "I have one more thing for you, Bernadette."

The turtle girl blinked as Splinter reached behind him and pulled out a bow and quiver of arrows. He smiled at her confused expression. "Bernadette, to you I bequeath this Yumi and Ya. With this bow and arrows, you shall begin training in the honorable way of the ninja, or kunoichi in your case."

Bernadette blinked, staring in awe at the Yumi and Ya between her father's hands. Her hands shook as she took the wooden weapons. "Thank you, Father." She said, smiling widely.

Leo blinked, looking slightly confused. "Sensei, why didn't she get to choose her weapons?"

Splinter looked up, amused, at his eldest son. "But she did, Leonardo. You of all people should know that. For it was you that also chose your weapon in private."

The green masked turtle turned to her blue masked brother. "You chose in private too? How?"

Leo looked rather sheepish, shrugging his shoulders, more interested in a spot on the floor than his sister. "I snuck into the dojo and started playing with the katanas…."

Raph started to chuckle. "Not so perfect then, huh, Leo—Ow!"

R2, having enough of his father talking, reached up and pressed against the underside of Raph's jaw, as if trying to shut him up.

"Okay! Okay!" the red masked turtle said. "I get it." And kept his mouth shut.

The little turtle smirked.

"Are you sm—"

"Enough, my son. The ceremony is not yet finished." Sensei said, his voice sharp, before softening as he turned to Bernadette. "You may go back to your place, daughter."

Nodding, Bernadette did as she was told. As she walked back, Splinter's eyes fell on Leo. "Leonardo."

Leo nodded and gestured towards L1 for her to come forward. The girl pointed to herself and nodded. Placing L2 on the floor beside her, she started to move, but Leo stopped her.

"Bring him too," The leader whispered.

L1 made an O with her mouth and blushed bright red-well…as red as a turtle could get, and picked up her brother before coming over. Kneeling, she kept her head down while her brother looked up at Splinter with wide sapphire eyes.

Splinter chuckled slightly and accepted two different shades of blue masks from Leo. Lifting the turquoise one, he looked seriously at L1. "My grandchild, today you shall don this mask of turquoise, in imitation of your father. With it I will bestow upon you the name Claire, which your father has selected for you. You shall not yet be given a weapon, but if you wish, we shall train you in the art of the kunoichi."

The young turtle nodded eagerly, before stopping herself and becoming more serious. Bowing her head, she replies. "Thank you, Master. I am honored that you wish me to be your student."

Splinter nodded and tied the mask around Claire's face. "Welcome to our clan, Hamato Claire." The ninja master turned then to the smaller turtle in Claire's arms. "As for you, my grandson. You do not yet understand this ceremony, but you will as you grow in age." He picked up a royal blue strip of fabric. "To distinguish you from your cousins and in view of the future, I present you with this anklet and bestow the name Vincent."

Vincent's bright blue eyes stared curiously at his grandfather, but he did not fuss as the rat tied the fabric to his leg.

After dismissing Claire and Vincent, he gestured to Leo, who handed him two strips of fabric of two different shades of red.

"Raphael, bring forward R1 and R2."

With a bit of fussing coming from R2, Raph managed to bring both of them forward. Splinter smiled knowingly at his son, for he had slaved many days with a fussy Raph, before turning to R1. Lifting a crimson red strip of fabric, the master presented it to R1. "My grandchild, I present you with this mask of crimson, and with it, I bestow the name Elizabeth, the name your father chose for you. Like with Claire, you will not be given a weapon, but rather the choice. If you wish, we will train you in the art of the Kunoichi."

Elizabeth stared at the master as he presented her with her mask. Blinking her green eyes, she realized she was supposed to respond. "Thank you, Master. I'd love to become a kunoichi."

Splinter smiled and tied the mask around her face before turning to R2. Repeating the same speech he had given Vincent, he bestowed the little boy with a dark red anklet. "You will be known as Gabriel."

Gabriel pouted slightly as the fabric was tied around him, but Raph held his leg so he wouldn't kick his master. Splinter tied it a bit tighter than he had with Vincent, just to be sure he wouldn't pull it off.

The master nodded to his son and grandchildren, who replied the nod and sat back in their spots.

Next, Splinter summoned Donatello, D1 and D2, taking two strips of different shades of purple from Leo. Turning to D1, he repeated the same ritual that he had for Claire and Elizabeth, holding between them a strip of indigo fabric. "I bestow on you the name Sebastian, the name your father chose for you. And, if you wish, we will train you in the art of ninjitsu."

Sebastian stared at the indigo mask, torn. He wasn't sure he wanted to learn how to fight. He would prefer to be in a lab studying things and making stuff…but his father was both of those things. A scientist and a ninja…maybe he could be both as well. Nodding, he accepted the mask.

Splinter then picked up a much longer strip of periwinkle fabric, turned to D2, and repeated the same ceremony he had for Vincent and Gabriel. "You shall be known as Gianna." He said as he tied the large fabric around her waist in a large bow. "A bow to disclose that she is, in fact,_a she_."

Elizabeth, looking somewhat irritated, whispered to Raph. "Why didn't _we _get bows?"

Raph shushed her. "Do you _want_ a bow?"

Elizabeth nodded but whispered "No."

Raph rolled his eyes.

Lastly, Splinter called forward Mikey, M1 and M2. Leo handed his master a white and a silver pieces of fabric. Turning towards M1, Splinter repeated for the last time the same ritual he had for Claire, Elizabeth and Sebastian. "I bestow on you the name Cyprian." He said, holding up the white mask.

Cyprian did not hesitate when asked if he wanted to become a ninja. He nodded so enthusiastically that he almost his the back of his head on his carapace. Splinter chuckled and tied the mask expertly around the young turtles head. He was so similar to Mikey, it was laughable.

And finally, Splinter grabbed the large strip of silver fabric and repeated for the last time the ritual he had for Vincent, Gabriel and Gianna. "You shall be called Lucy," He said, tying on the silver bow.

The baby, loving her new "clothes", started rubbing the fabric, clearly enjoying the sound it made and the view of the beautiful color.

"Now, my children and grandchildren," Splinter concluded. "Tonight we shall celebrate!"

* * *

><p>AN: One chapter done in one take, check.

Ok... we will post another in a few days!

Feel free to leave a review! Like or hate the names? Let us know!

~R&R


	10. Chapter 9

Hello everyone!

Thanks for coming back again!

Oh. And as promised, here's the guide to who is who.

L1-Claire  
>L2- Vincent<br>R1-Elizabeth  
>R2-Gabriel<br>D1-Sebastian  
>D2-Gianna<br>M1-Cyprian  
>M2-Lucy<br>C3-Bernadette

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Chapter 9: Sleep<p>

Days passed at almost a break neck pace. Not long after the naming ceremony, Leo, Donnie, Raph and Mikey seemed to be scrambling for time with their sister and children. Nightly patrols became teams of two as Leo thought security needed to be tighter around the lair.

One night, Leo was watching over the babies as they slept under the basking lamp, his eyes focused, but his mind wandering. There were so many issues to address…

_What if the Kraang make their move tonight? Donnie did say it could be a day before they come… What are they waiting for? What would we do?_

Donnie was in the lab tonight, working on his turtle mech. A viable option should they be attacked. But Leo didn't think it was enough. They needed something more.

The lair was pretty quiet tonight, seeing as Leo had sent Mikey and Raph to pick up Casey for patrol. April and Bernadette were training in the dojo with Master Splinter, and usually Leo would join them, but not tonight.

Needing the quiet for meditation, Leo had decided to take baby-sitting duty. And seeing as the youngest four turtles were settled for bed, it would probably stay quiet until one of them awoke because of a nightmare or hunger. Sitting in seiza not far from the infants, he closed his eyes and focused on the silence, trying to find a way to solve the questions that buzzed in his head.

He wasn't sure how long he stayed like that when the silence was broken. It started out as a mew before it started to grow into a whimper. His eyes opened, one hand going for the kaiken in his dojo wraps, looking for a threat…

And found nothing.

Confused, he slipped the small dagger into the wraps once more and looked for the source of the sound...

It wasn't that far away.

Vincent was lying on his plastron, trying to get into his shell, as if hiding from some unseen threat. The whimper grew in intensity as the small turtle did his best to get into his shell. Leo leaned closer to the baby, realizing he must be having a nightmare.

Slightly panicked and not sure what to do, Leo reached out and picked the baby up, who immediately squirmed. Thinking fast and hoping not to wake the child, he placed Vincent in his arms and started rocking him. _Babies like to be rocked…right?_

However, the whimpers did not stop. Becoming even more concerned, Leo tried to think of what Splinter would do in this situation…

And then it hit him.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and started to sing.

"_Nenneko shasshari mase,__  
><em>_Neta ko no kawaisa.__  
><em>_Okite naku ko no."_

His voice wasn't as melodious as he remembered his Master's from his memories as a child. But it would have to suffice.

Vincent's cries, upon hearing his father's voice, slowly began to wane. Taking this as a good sign, Leo continued to sing.

"_Nenkororo, tsura nikusa.__  
><em>_Nenkororon, nenkororon._

_Nenneko shasshari mase,__  
><em>_Kyō wa nijūgo-nichi sa.__  
><em>_Asu wa kono ko no,__  
><em>_Nenkororo, Miya-mairi.__  
><em>_Nenkororon, nenkororon._

_Miya e maitta toki,__  
><em>_Nan to yūte ogamu sa.__  
><em>_Issho kono ko no,__  
><em>_Nenkororo, mame na yō ni.__  
><em>_Nenkororon, nenkororon."_

By the end of the last verse, Vincent's cries had stopped and he was resting peacefully in his father's arms. The leader in blue peaked to take a look and was overwhelmed by a sudden rush of shock. It had worked! Smiling at his accomplishment and at the cuteness of the child in his arms, he hummed the lullaby once more, keeping rocking Vincent gently.

And soon, he found himself drifting off.

* * *

><p>It was around midnight when Mikey and Raph returned from patrol. Mikey, ever the loud mouth, opened his mouth to shout their return when Raph grabbed him and closed a hand over his mouth. "Do you want to wake up the babies?" Raph threatened in his ear. "Cus if you do, I'm making you put them to sleep."<p>

The orange masked turtle rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Good." The red masked turtle replied and let his brother go.

Sulking slightly, Mikey made his way into the lair and towards his room when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. Curious, he turned to look…and was not expecting the sight before him.

Leo was kneeling in front of the basking lamp, his head drooping slightly, and in his arms lay Vincent, snuggled up against his father's plastron.

Mikey had to stop himself from awing over the scene before him. His ninja skills allowed him to get to his room before he couldn't hold it back. Looking around for something, he raids his room before stumbling out of it, a camera in his hand.

*click*

* * *

><p>"That is enough for tonight, daughters." Sensei told Bernadette and April as they finished their kata.<p>

"Hai, Sensei." The girls chorused and bowed. Splinter returned the bow before stepping out of the dojo.

April rubbed her sore arm, looking over at Bernadette, wondering if she was having problems too.

Much to the girl in yellow's chagrin, the turtle girl was stretching very comfortably. "You're not hurting at all?" She almost demanded.

Bernadette smiled, "Nope. I could have probably gone another hour."

April lifted an eyebrow, not sure if she was bluffing or not. "How so? You've only been training for three days!"

The green masked turtle lifted an eyebrow. "Have you seen my brothers? I'm made straight from their 15 year old DNA. Plus, the Kraang modified me." She said, disgust at the Kraang seeping into her voice.

April nodded, jealously.

"But I wish it didn't come this easily to me…" Bernadette continued softly.

April lifted an eyebrow. "Why? Being good at something isn't a bad thing."

"No… But surviving something that your siblings couldn't might be. I've been very lucky…and that's bad in my book." And with that, the turtle girl headed out of the room.

* * *

><p>On his way out of the dojo, Splinter ran right into Michelangelo, startling the younger turtle who jumped up and covered his mouth with two hands. When he realized who was behind him, he relaxed and smiled at Sensei.<p>

"Sh! It's too cute!" Mikey whispered, pointing towards the center of the main room.

Lifting an eyebrow, the ninja master looked, and a smile touched his lips at the sight of Leo with Vincent. "You should be heading to bed too, my son." Splinter said, turning his attention back to Mikey.

"Aww! But I'm not—" The boy yawned. "Sleepy."

The ninja master smiled. "Then perhaps you should meditate for a while."

Sighing and slumping, the student nodded to his master and headed into the dojo.

Once Mikey was out of sight, Splinter headed down to where Leo was, careful to not wake the little ones sleeping under the basking lamp or the one in the blue masked turtle's arms. Touching his son's shoulder gently, he awoke Leo.

"You should go and rest, Leonardo." The master whispered.

The leader in blue yawned and blinked up at Splinter. "W-What?"

"You need your rest. You've been running yourself ragged, my son."

"Oh…" The teenager started to get up when he noticed something in his arms. Blinking down, he smiled at the sleeping Vincent. The baby was gripping onto his father's plastron and looking content.

"Place him under the basking lamp. He'll sleep peacefully for the rest of the night."

"Hai, Sensei." Leo said and did as he was told before Sensei shooed him to his room. "Goodnight, Sensei."

* * *

><p>The next day passed quite rapidly and in the same way as the previous one. Sleep, train, patrol, and sleep.<p>

Except for Donnie, who had once again cooped himself up in his lab, so focused that he barely noticed the time or Gianna sitting nearby. It was only once he rubbed his eyes for a moment that both were brought to his attention.

"Gianna, what are you doing still up? It's way passed your bedtime."

The genius' daughter gave him a look that could only be described as saying "Are you kidding?"

"Don't sass me." Donnie said, crossing his arms. "It's your bed time, little miss."

Gianna mimicked her father, the look still plastered on her face.

They ended up staring at each other for a good 10 seconds before Donnie caved and scooped her up, causing her to let out a startled laugh. "I got you!" The older turtle said, pulling her into his arms and tickling her.

Gianna's laughter echoed through the lab for several minutes before Donnie stopped tickling her and held her close. "Alright, you can stay up with me for a little while longer."

As if those were the magic words, Gianna leaned closer, grabbing her father's mask tails, and yawned.

"Are you kidding me?"

The baby gave him a tired look, as if to say "Do you think I'm kidding you?"

Donnie fought to roll his eyes. "Alright. Let's get you to bed."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, elsewhere in the lair, Raph was struggling with a problem of his own.<p>

"_Gabriel!_" The hot head shouted as he looked all over for the baby turtle. Elizabeth was not too far away, looking as well for her brother.

The little boy had gone missing just shy of bath time. Elizabeth, knowing her brother well, knew that Gabriel hated bath time and would do anything in his power to get out of it.

But not tonight!

Tonight, Raph was determined to get his son bathed.

Suddenly, Elizabeth started laughing, causing Raph to turn sharply and glare at his daughter. _"What?"_

"Just…Look behind you, dad." The laughing seven year old said.

Raph turned sharply and then again, searching for the cause of the girl's laughter.

Suddenly, a familiar laugh joined Elizabeth's. Gabriel. Raph could hear him. He was close.

"No dad. Just turn your head." The girl said.

The red masked turtle did as his daughter pointed out, and spotted the little rascal clinging to the ridge of his carapace. Gently, Raph reached behind him and grabbed Gabriel by the hands before pulling the child in front of him.

"How the shell did you get there?" Raph asked, slipping the child into a proper hold.

The baby shrugged.

"Well, it's bath time for you. No excuses."

The child groaned and made a face that screamed he didn't want to.

"Well tough." Raph continued, turning and heading to the tub that they had. Several minutes later, sounds of a struggle and laughing echoed through that section of the lair.

* * *

><p>Casey, coming to see why Raph wasn't answering his texts, had entered the lair to that sound. Lifting an eyebrow because the laugh sounded unfamiliar, he flipped down his mask, just in case. Keeping his hands ready to grab a hockey stick, he snuck the best he could towards the sound. The door to the bathroom was open and he peaked inside to see…two turtles with red masks…and a smaller turtle.<p>

"This is really strange, yo." He said loud enough to be heard.

Suddenly, the smallest turtle jumped out of the tub and shot like a bullet for Casey.

Gabriel, startled by the sudden appearance of someone else that he had never seen before, had somehow made it out of Raph's hands and cleared a good three feet before latching onto the intruder's face.

Elizabeth couldn't help but fall over laughing. This night just kept getting better.

Raph reached out and grabbed Gabriel by the shell. "Gabe, no. Let go."

Gabriel refused, shaking his head and growling at the black and white figure.

"Dude! What the!" Casey said, reaching up to try and release his face.

"Case! Stop!" Raph said, still attempting to pull off the baby when idea struck. Shifting one of his hands, he started scratching Gabriel's carapace.

Almost immediately, the baby let go of Casey's mask and collapsed. It was only Raph's ninja training that allowed him to catch the turtle before he hit the ground. "Works every time." He said with a wink.

"Cool." Casey said, lifting his mask. "But what's going on, bro? I've been texting you for the last hour and you haven't said a peep."

Slipping the grumpy baby onto his shoulder, Raph gestured to Elizabeth. "We found them in Dimension X. This is my daughter Elizabeth, and my son Gabriel."

Casey blinked. "Come again?"

"It's crazy Kraang stuff. Just go with it."

"Oh….Kay…." Casey replied before bursting out laughing. "Irresponsible much?"

Raph reached over and punched his buddy. "Don't even start, dude." The hot head said with a glare, leaning closer to Casey and covering Gabriel's ears with a large hand. "They were genetic experiments of the Kraang." He whispered, seriously.

Casey's laugh stopped on a dime when he heard the whisper. Raph wouldn't joke about experiments and knowing the things that happened in comic books…well, Casey didn't have to think much to guess what may have happened to the small baby in Raph's arms or the little girl. "Oh…" He whispered back before his voice returned to normal. "Do you need any help with b-a-t-h-t-i-m-e?"

A sly smile widened across Raph's face.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry! We should have left a CUTENESS alert at the beginning!

Hope you enjoyed! Please leave us a review!

~R&R


	11. Chapter 10

A/N: Hello all! Welcome back! Thank you so much for your reviews! (Especially to our lovely guest. We are checking our tenses to make sure that everything is in proper order. Thank you very much for helping us!)

And like before, a quick reminder of who is who.

L1: Claire, L2: Vincent  
>R1: Elizabeth, R2: Gabriel<br>D1: Sebastian, D2: Gianna  
>M1: Cyprian, M2: Lucy<p>

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Chapter 10:<p>

It was about ten when all the babies and seven-year-olds were all asleep in their little niches around the lair. Who would have thought that it would take a few hours to put eight children to sleep?

Obviously, the turtles and Casey hadn't.

Leo summoned his brothers, sister, Casey, and April into the dojo, the only room where someone didn't rest, save for Splinter, who sat there waiting for his students.

"I really think we need to consider a safe place to move the children to." Leo started off, raising a hand to stay off any objections until he had finished. "The Kraang aren't going to wait forever, we already know they are coming, and we've been really lucky to have the amount of time that we have. And as much as I would love to keep them here…if the Kraang attack, I'm not sure we could defend the lair _and _the city split up the way we have been for the past few days."

When Leo lowered his hand, it was Bernadette and Donnie that were the first to object.

"We just got here and now you're sending us away?!"

"We can defend both in the turtle mech! I'm almost done with it."

Leo took this into consideration, before forming a response. "Think about it. If we were attacked, the babies can't defend themselves very well, and the older ones may be able to try." Leo shrugged slightly. "I'd give them that. But they could be a serious distraction if something were to happen. And what if the Kraang go for the lair?"

"They don't know where we are." Raph dead panned.

"But who's to say that something won't happen and they suddenly know, Raph."

"That happens in comic books all the time!" Mikey chirped in. "It sounds like a reasonable thing to do, but we can't send them off on their own, dude!"

Leo nodded. "I wasn't considering sending them off on their own, but first we need to find a place for them."

Bernadette huffed for a moment before, begrudgingly agreeing. "Fine. But it will only be temporary, right?"

"On my honor, I swear it." Leo said, seriousness echoed through his voice.

"I may have a place where they can go…" April piped up. "My family's old farmhouse. It's in Northampton, so it wouldn't be too far away, but out of the city enough to be safe."

Leo looked from her to Splinter and then back again. "Would you be willing to let us use it? Even for a short time?"

"Sure. I'd need to talk to dad about it, but I don't think that'll be too difficult."

Leo nodded, "Good." And then turned to Bernadette. "I was wondering, sister, if you wouldn't mind going with them. You've taken remarkable care of them since before we knew they existed and I can't think of anyone else I'd trust more to protect them."

Bernadette thought for a moment. Obviously, she wouldn't let them go anywhere without her, but the inflating of her ego just made it more enticing. "Fine. But only because you swore that it would be temporary."

Leo smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Bernadette." He looked around the room. "Any objections?"

"Just one…should we send someone else out there with them?" Raph piped up. "You know, in case the Kraang lock on their tail?"

Leo considered it, pretty sure that all of the brothers would want to go with their children…but they couldn't…

It was Splinter that provided the answer. Standing, the master turned to the tree behind them and plucked off five small twigs, being sure to keep them about the same length. Keeping his back turned to the group, he shortened one of them and held them in his hand to disguise the different sizes. "The one that picks the shortest stick can go as guard."

Leo nodded and selected one of the sticks, a long one.

His brothers and Casey all did the same and then compared lengths.

"Aw yeah!" Mikey cheered. "I got the short stick!"

"Oh great. Chuckles as a body guard."

"Hey!"

* * *

><p>"<em>MIKEY!"<em>

"I DIDN'T DO IT!" Michelangelo screamed back, getting ready to hide, should his older brother come after him for something he was pretty sure he didn't do.

"_Come help us! Your daughter is spinning on the turnstiles!"_

The orange masked turtle blinked. "Come again?"

"GET YOUR SORRY BUTT OVER HERE, MICHELANGELO!"

Not wanting to infuriate Raph even more, Mikey made his way quickly to the turnstiles…and sure enough, there was Lucy spinning wildly on the turnstiles, squealing in excitement. Trying to hold in a laugh, the older turtle made his way over to the tot and poked at the turnstiles, bringing it to a halt.

Lucy dropped to the floor, stars swirling in front of her eyes for a moment before looking up at her father's folded arms and raised eyebrow. To which she replied with a huge, and rather cute, grin.

Reaching down, Mikey picked up his daughter and headed off to find Raph.

Raph, in the meantime, was dealing with two rather hyper and crazy babies.

"What numbskull gave these babies sugar?"

The objects of his frustration, Gabriel and Gianna, the dynamic duo, had somehow gotten themselves into the cookies, and now the boy was lying on his carapace and the girl was standing up, running as fast as she could from Raph, using Gabriel as a shopping cart.

Raph was wondering how, with all of his ninja training, these two managed to stay out of his grasp!

"ARGH!" He growled in frustration as Gianna made another turn, sending the trained ninja flying into the television set.

Laughing, Gianna shoved Gabriel out from under her and started bear climbing out of the pit and crawling as fast as her little arms would carry her towards the kitchen.

"Oh no you don't!" Raph flipped out of the pit and ran as fast as he could, almost dragging his hands on the floor as he neared her….before falling on his face. "…I'm getting too old for this…._DONNIE!_"

"WHAT!?"

"GET OUT HERE!"

"WHY?"

"BECAUSE!" The raging turtle looked up, and saw that Gianna had somehow made it to the top of the fridge…where the cookie jar sat. "SHE'S RAIDING THE COOKIE JAR! AGAIN!"

The tallest terrapin peaked out of the lab, assessing just how truthful Raph's words were, and sighed when he saw that it was not an exaggeration. Moving quickly, with an unamused look on his face, he made his way to the fridge and glared at his daughter, who had successfully stuffed five cookies in her mouth.

The little turtle broke her streak of munching to look at her father with wide eyes before smiling and waving, cookie in hand.

Donnie, completely unamused, shook his head and pulled the cookies out of her hands and set them aside before grabbing her. "Bath time." He said, simply, but firmly.

Gianna huffed, cookies still stuffed in her cheeks, lowering her head.

"Yeah, yeah. That's what you get when you raid the cookie jar." The purple masked turtle said before turning to Raph the babysitter. "So, Raph, how was she?"

Raph gave the glare of death. "Two words: Never. Again."

* * *

><p>"Leo!"<p>

The turtle in question was reading through one of his comic books, looked up and rolled his eyes. "Yes, Raph?"

"You're son is missing."

Moving quickly, even for a ninja, Leo managed a flip before skidding to a halt in front of his brother. "What?"

Raph shrugged, Gabriel in his arms.

"How do you lose track of a child that can't walk yet!?" Leo practically shouted.

"Three words: Gianna in the Cookie Jar."

"That's not—"

"I DON'T CARE! It's three! And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to sit here with my son and watch television." And with that, the grump pushed past his brother and flipped to flop on the beanbag chairs, picked up the remote and started flipping through channels.

With a heavy sigh, Leo rolled his eyes and started looking for the smallest turtle in blue. Trying to think of places that he had gotten into as a child helped eliminate most of the back rooms and the kitchen. That left the dojo and the lab.

And Leo could guess which one.

After a quick check of the lab, just to be sure, he headed to the dojo, knowing he probably was going to get in trouble for having his son slip into the one room of the house where the child could get seriously hurt.

Just as the eldest turtle walked through the gateway to the dojo, Splinter was coming out of his trance. The rat looked down and chuckled slightly. In his lap was the smallest turtle in blue rested, fast asleep. "I seem to recall something similar happening years ago, right, Leonardo?"

The leader came and knelt in front of his master, bowed. "I'm sorry, Sensei. It won't happen again."

Splinter chuckled, resting one of his four fingered hands on Vincent's head as the child slept in his lap. "I do not mind, Leonardo. If he wishes to escape the constant noise of his uncles, cousins, sibling and yourself, he is more than welcome to sleep in my lap. At least, until he's too heavy to stay there comfortably."

Leo had to fight a chuckle before another voice rang through the lair.

"_BEA!"_

"_WHAT?"_

"_WHERE'S MY SUPER SUIT?"_

"_WHAT?"_

"_WHERE. IS. MY. SUPER. SUIT?"_

"_I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT, RAPH! YOU DON'T HAVE ONE!"_

From the central part of the lair, Leo could hear Raph and Mikey laughing very hard. The leader looked at his sensei and both of them lowered their heads, sighing. Would it ever be quiet in the lair?

Bernadette made her way into the common area, and irritated look on her face as she looked at her brothers practically rolling on their shells with laughter. "I seriously don't get this joke."

"It's from the Incredibles! One of the best movies of all time!" Mikey piped up between giggles. "OH! I should bring it with us on our trip!"

No one had noticed Elizabeth and Claire as they entered the room from the kitchen. "What trip?" The one with a red mask asked.

The chuckling stopped as everyone in the room turned to face the two new comers.

"Aw sewer apples…" Raph muttered. "Liz, get your cousins. We need to talk."

Elizabeth looked at Raph funny and didn't move for a long while, before dashing into the other room to pull Cyprian and Sebastian by their mask tails.

"OW! WHAT GIVES, ELIZABETH?" the white masked turtle asked.

"Dad says he wants to talk to us. He has some explaining to do." Elizabeth said, her voice cold. Almost throwing her cousins at her father's feet, she turned her green eyes on Raph. "So explain."

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry for the sorta cliffy. I hope our tenses were better this time. (If not, please let us know and we'll correct it. :) )

Please leave a review! (Oh, and we do NOT own the Incredibles. That honor belongs to Disney and Pixar. We just enjoy that line, a lot.)

~R&R


	12. Chapter 11

Hi guys! Sorry for the delay. Our internet went boom... :(

But we're getting it up and running this week! So we may have another one for you for Christmas! (YAY!)

And we would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Happy Kwanzaa/Happy Holidays/Happy New Year from both of us!

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Chapter 11:<p>

Raphael wasn't entirely sure what was more difficult – fighting the Shredder or telling his daughter that he was sending her to a safe haven for the time being.

With the way that those green eyes bored into him…he would have taken the fight with the Shredder any day.

Elizabeth, Claire, Sebastian and Cyprian listened in silence as Raph, Mikey and Bernadette explained that it was necessary to send them someplace safe before the Kraang return. As Raph was clear to point out, they had reliable information that the Kraang were coming and that they were lucky they has lasted this long without the Invasion beginning.

It was…difficult to accept.

Claire, being the most sensitive of the older children, lowered her head and squeezed her eyes and hands closed, fighting the urge to scream and cry. Trying to remember Sensei's lesson on acceptance was difficult when everything rebelled inside of her. She could see where her uncles and aunt were coming from…but she didn't like it. She wanted to stay here…But if it was unsafe…if those brain things found them…

Surrendering to a wave of sadness, Claire lowered her head even more to hide the tears in her eyes.

Cyprian, who knelt beside Claire, put an arm on her shoulder. Even though this news distressed him, he had enough sense to know this bothered her more. He didn't want to leave either, but was willing to follow his father and uncle's lead to the end of the Earth. If they said he needed to go…he'll go. His blue eyes met Mikey's and he nodded with severe seriousness.

Sebastian and Elizabeth knelt like statues, frozen in place, expressions blank.

Sebastian's mind raced as he tried to come up with a way that allowed them to stay with the four Ninjas and their master…but none of them stuck well. Not wanting to give up until all the possibilities had been negated was difficult, but soon he unfroze and lowered his head, sinking his face into his hands. He had nothing…and was sure that if Donnie hadn't have been able to figure something out…he probably wouldn't have either.

Elizabeth's stiffness was the most terrifying. She knelt with her back was straighter than Raph had ever seen it, her arms resting on her knees, no sign of emotion or movement coming from the turtle. Her mind was a complete blank, unable to accept, or deny, the reasoning her father had given her. She didn't…feel anything.

Until a pair of hands grabbed hers. Blinking up, Elizabeth's eyes met a strikingly similar pair of eyes.

Raph, knowing what his daughter was going through better than anyone, gripped her hands tightly, keeping her grounded. "It won't be for very long. We'll punch those silly brains so hard back into Dimension X their Kraangs will be spinning for the next millennium. And then we'll come and get you guys. You won't be alone for very long." He squeezed her hands a bit more. "I promise."

It took her a good couple of minutes before she was able to find her voice, thoughts returning to her head slowly, reminding her to blink and breath. "Alright." She said quietly. "Alright."

* * *

><p>Later on that evening, April waltzed into the lab with a ring of keys around her finger. "Dad says that the farm house is ours!"<p>

"Aw yeah!" Mikey cheered, echoed by Lucy who cooed in her father's arms.

April couldn't help by smile at Mikey's antics. For some reason, the orange masked turtle was able to see the light in everything and she wondered if that's why he appeared to walk on sunshine most of the time. By Lucy's response, whatever it was that made Mikey that way had also transferred to his children.

"Good." Leo said, making his presence known. In his arms slept Vincent and he held Claire's hand. "Then I suggest that you all leave now while the sun is set."

The girl in yellow nodded, understanding Leo's reasoning. While it was dark, no one would see the turtles pile into the car. They were safer.

The leader called everyone into the main part of the lair and Splinter said goodbye to his grandchildren and daughter, knowing that they would see each other soon, and wishing them well. Lucy happened to be the most problem child of the group. She happened to grab his beard and ear, intent on playing with her grandfather.

"Lucy…Lucy…" the mutant rat said, trying to pry the infant's fingers from his tender ear. "Lucy let go, darling." He repeated and looked up at Mikey.

Mikey thought it was cute, but came over and managed to pry Lucy away from Splinter. "Sorry about that Master Splinter."

The ninja master chuckled. "No worries, Michelangelo." He patted his son's head. "She is very much like you."

Mikey smiled and rubbed the back of his neck with the hand not holding Lucy. He had pulled on his sensei's beard as a child…

"Let's go." Leo said somberly.

The other's fell in step behind him, knowing that this was for the best and wouldn't last for very long.

It didn't take very long before they reached the van. April unlocked the doors and climbed in, waiting for the family to say their goodbyes. It was starting to get cold, so the teen turned on the van and turned up the heater.

As the minutes ticked by, Leo, whose arms were wrapped around his children whispered a Japanese farewell. Claire didn't understand very well, but it was soothing. Vincent was fast asleep and Leo carefully transferred the baby to his daughter's arms. "Take good care of yourself and your brother. I'll be back to get you soon. And try to have a bit of fun."

Claire nodded, brushing away a tear with one hand. Leo kissed the top of her head. "Do not cry, oujo. Otousan will not leave his beautiful princess for very long."

Claire blushed slightly and hugged her father tight.

Donnie, who had finally got Gianna to go to sleep gave the sleeping turtle to Sebastian before hugging both of them. "Take good care of each other and listen to what Bernadette tells you, ok?"

Sebastian nodded. "See you soon, dad."

Mikey had already managed to get Lucy and Cyprian into the van. Cyprian was practically bouncing in place, super excited about the trip.

Raph, on the other hand, was having a difficult time with Elizabeth and Gabriel. Somehow the baby had woken up when Raph passed the baby to his daughter and was putting up a fuss and neither his sister nor his father could sooth him.

"Aw sewer apples…" Raph muttered, trying to think of a way to calm him and quick. Without thinking, a lullaby came to mind and he thought "what the heck" and started singing.

"Mori mo iyagaru, Bon kara saki-nya  
>Yuki mo chiratsuku-shi, Ko mo naku-shi<p>

Bon ga kita-tote, Nani ureshi-karo  
>Katabira wa nashi, Obi wa nashi<p>

Kono ko you naku, Mori wo ba ijiru  
>Mori mo ichi-nichi, Yaseru-yara<p>

Hayo-mo yuki-taya, Kono zaisho koete  
>Mukou ni mieru wa, Oya no uchi<br>Mukou ni mieru wa, Oya no uchi."

At first, Gabriel's cries only worsened, but they gradually decreased in intensity and eventually fell silent. Sighing in relief, Raph touched his daughter's head. "That's called Takeda Lullaby. I'll have Donnie send you a copy."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"With this." Donnie butted in, opening a bag he had slung over his shoulder. Inside was a computer and several t-phones. "These are for Bernadette, Cyprian, Sebastian, Elizabeth and Claire. The smaller devices are T-phones and the larger one is a computer. April will show you how they work when you get to the farmhouse."

April nodded from the driver seat.

The three older ninjas turned to their sister and commenced a group hug.

"If you need us, for any reason, don't hesitate to call." Leo said.

"Try to have a little fun." Donnie continued.

"And try not to worry too much. We have Leo for that." Raph snarked.

"Hey!"

Bernadette chuckled, holding back tears as she hugged her brothers back. "You'll come for us soon, right?"

"Promise." They replied.

And with that, Bernadette nodded and pulled away, crawling into the van. With a nod to April, Donnie handed the bag to the girl and after a few moments, the three turtle ninjas watched as their sister, friend, Mikey, and the eight youngest turtles made their way to safety.

* * *

><p>AN: And that's that.

WE DON'T OWN THE LULLABY! THAT BELONGS TO JAPAN!

We just really liked it... :)

Please leave a review, we'd love to hear from you!

Thanks again and Happy Holidays!

~R&R


	13. Chapter 12

Merry Christmas, Everyone! (We know not everyone celebrates it. TODAY IS CHRISTMAS...well...unless you live in Asia...and some parts of Europe... Regardless, for our time zone, it's still Dec. 25th.)

And here's another chapter for you! Enjoy and please leave a review!

* * *

><p>Chapter 12<p>

The journey to the farmhouse went off without a hitch. Besides Mikey and Cyprian's excitement about being on the road, the party wagon was pretty quiet. Traveling at night had its perks.

April stopped at a store as they got closer to the farmhouse and picked up some groceries. After strict instructions were given to Mikey and Cyprian to _not touch it_ until they got the house, the rest of the trip was made in silence.

When they arrived at their destination, the small turtles looked out of the windows with wide eyes. The house was a large, two story farmhouse with slight colonial style. Large bay windows were erected on the front of the lower story to let in lots of light. There was a large front porch that Cyprian ran up to as soon as the door was open and looked around, wide eyed.

April smiled and walked to the front door, leading the more reluctant turtles. Mikey held both Vincent and Lucy in his arms, both still asleep, while Bernadette carried a slightly rambunctious Gabriel, and Sebastian carried Gianna. Claire rushed to Cyprian's side and peered cautiously in the windows, wiping away some of the dust.

Inside was a rather plain house. It was functional, but the dust that seemed to settle fluttered in the non-moving air. As April opened the door, the dust took off in different directions, fluttering all around to find a new home. The girl was the first to enter the darkened home, shortly followed by Mikey and then the others.

"Wow, April…This place is pretty dirty." The orange masked turtle commented.

"Course it is. It's been years since we've been here."

Bernadette pulled Gabriel's hand from a dusty table and looked around. "Anyway we could clean this place up a bit before you go?"

April nodded and headed to the garage.

The younger turtles, not really sure what to do, corralled in the living room and sat on the rug. Too cautious to explore, but too curious to be frozen to a spot.

Mikey and Bernadette instructed the kids to not wander off and when April returned, started to clear away the dust to make the house more livable.

* * *

><p>Cyprian was bored out of his mind.<p>

His dad had told him to stay in the farmhouse, but he was going stir crazy in there!

He couldn't understand how anyone, let alone his dad, could stay in there for so long. So he ventured out into the unknown.

Well, as unknown as he dared.

Anyone would think that the outside was boring, but not Cyprian! He loved the green grass, the towering trees, and the big red barn.

The barn kind of reminded him of his uncle Raph, Liz and Gabe because of its color. (He had decided that Elizabeth and Gabriel were too long to remember and nick names were in order, just like when they were captives of the Kraang).

Along with the grass, trees and the barn, there was another structure.

It was about his height, but it had a little ramp and a minuscule door that was about the size of his little sister and baby cousins.

_What's this?_ He wondered to himself, as he climbed up the little ramp. _Guess there's one way to find out!_

He, slightly nervous, crawled up the ramp and opened the tiny door to see weird creatures. They were big and fluffy with yellow, glass looking mouths. He had thought that his father had mentioned them….what were they called again?

Oh! _Chickens!_

The chickens looked like they were asleep, so he stayed really quiet.

Well….as quiet as a hyperactive, bored seven year old could get.

He looked around the rest of the structure. It looked much bigger on the inside then it appeared on the outside. From the looks of it, there was enough room in there for him _and_ the three other seven year olds.

Maybe he should show them!

So he did.

* * *

><p>"What the heck is this!?" Elizabeth exclaimed with disgust. "It's dirty and gross and smells funky!"<p>

"I think," Sebastian answered. "It's called a chicken coop."

"Why a 'coop'?" Claire apprehensively asked. "Why couldn't they call it a 'chicken house'?"

"I don't know." The smart cousin replied. "I'll ask Bea to call dad and ask him."

"Well, I thought it was a cool place to play!" Cyprian said, while focusing his gaze on his three toes.

"You're not wrong, Rian." Claire comforted, using his newly acquired nickname, "It does have space and it's very…um…very…." She bumbled, trying to find the right word.

"Private?" Sebastian suggested.

"Exactly!"

"So, Ri." Elizabeth continued. "What do you want to play?"

A smile the distance of the moon and back lit up his freckled, blue eyed face. "I thought we could play ninjas, or we could be pirates trying to nab the sacred idol of the chicken people!"

The three cousins thought for a moment.

"I like the pirate idea better." Sebastian replied. "We don't know a lot of ninjitsu skills and the second idea is more creative."

Claire and Elizabeth nodded in agreement.

"Pirates it is!" Cyprian exclaimed proudly.

* * *

><p>"Arrrg ye mateys! Here be the sacred idol of Chickenopolis!" Cyprian, who had been watching way too many tv shows – in Elizabeth's opinion – yelled, holding up a fairly large egg that he snuck out from under one of the chickens.<p>

"Avast ye scurvy dogs!" Sebastian continued, adding to the story. "Now that we have seized the sacred idol, we must flee! Or the army of chicken demons will attack our ship, mateys!"

"Yeah! Um….I-I mean arrrrgh!" Claire said, trying her best to stay in character, briny accent and all, and failing.

"Guys! Quiet down or you're gonna wake up the—I mean, arrg, quick mateys! Escape the wooden fortress of the chicken people with the idol! We shall bring it to our pirate guardians!" Liz tried to indirectly warn her cousins of their impending doom by chickens.

Ever since Cyprian yelled, the chickens had started to awaken. Elizabeth had seen the beady eyes open and knew that trouble was brewing if they didn't get out quickly.

Cyprian, who opened his mouth to say how ridiculous that was, was cut off by a loud _bacawk!_

Turning slowly, the white masked turtle looked over his shoulder, his blue eyes widening. "Oh….My….Booyakasha…"

"Uh guys…" Sebastian said, grabbing the back of Cyprian's shell and pulling. "RUN FOR IT!"

With that, the four turtles scrambled through the little door, down the ramp and out into the open grass, screaming all the way.

* * *

><p>Bernadette, April and Mikey were getting increasingly worried.<p>

They had finished getting most of the dust out of the farmhouse, finally, but the four seven year olds had been missing for hours.

Worst still, the babies were starting to get fussy and Mikey needed help making food for them all (well, not really. But he did want Cyprian to watch him so he could make meals for his cousins, sister and aunt later).

"Where the shell could they—" Mikey was beginning to ask when he was suddenly cut off by a moderately loud "RUN FOR IT!"

The next thing the orange masked turtle, his sister and their red headed friend knew, the small group of seven year olds came running, at high speed, out from an unknown source with…chickens chasing them?

"I think we found them." April concluded.

"Yup." Bea concurred.

* * *

><p>Once everyone was cleaned and fed, Vincent yawned. He was sitting in his sister's lap, nuzzling his cheek against her plastron. Today had been an interesting day, and no one was really surprised that he was tuckered out.<p>

Lucy began to fuss, obviously tired, but didn't want to sleep. Gianna was content to curl up on a pillow and put her thumb in her mouth.

Gabe, on the other hand, showed no signs of sleeping. He was up and on the go.

Mikey, Bea and Liz were chasing the baby around and he was starting to wear them out…

Eventually, Liz was able to scoop her brother up and held onto him pretty tight. "Alright, Gabe. Bed time." She said forcefully.

The baby started to fuss, raising a hand to slap at her, which the older turtle grabbed. "No. No."

* * *

><p>It took some time, but they managed to get all the babies to sleep, and then Mikey and April said their goodbyes.<p>

"Take good care of each other, okay?" Mikey said to Liz, Claire, Sebastian and Cyprian. "Keep the little ones out of trouble."

"Yes, Uncle Mikey." Liz, Claire and Sebastian chorused.

Cyprian nodded and hugged his dad.

April showed Bea one last time how to use the t-phone and smiled. "If you need us, let us know."

"Will do," Bea replied, smiling and hugging her friend and her brother.

"See you soon!" Mikey called as he climbed into the Party wagon and drove away.

* * *

><p>AN: And there you have it! Hope you enjoyed this little Interlude.

Next chapter...prepare for some feels...

Until next time, Leave a review, please!

~R&R


	14. Chapter 13

A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAPPY EPIPHANY!

Whoa...we are at chapter 13? When did this happen?

(Leo: Now.)

(Rachel: *slaps muse*) ((Sidenote: Rachel RPs as Leo on Tumblr.))

Annnny way... Renee and I were thinking about working on two stories at once. We are thinking about posting a Human!AU story with the turtles and Bernadette. If you are interested, please let us know! (And if you hate the idea, let us know a good reason why, please. Constructive Criticism. No flames, this will be Renee's first solo story.)

ANNNND without further Adieu, welcome to Chapter 13!

Warning: Prepare yourselves for feels.

* * *

><p>Chapter 13<p>

The next morning, after breakfast, Cyprian had grabbed Lucy and turned on the TV, wondering if they got any cool shows over here. At first, it was mostly static, but Sebastian moved the antenna around and, voilà! The static cleared to reveal a rather cheesy looking cartoon.

"Wizardess! Gra! Ride!" A yellow haired man said in an odd accent.

And from that moment, the two were hooked.

It was a goofy show, _Crognard the Barbarian_, but it was funny.

* * *

><p>Claire, in the meantime, had gone on to explore some more of the house. Vincent, not wanting to be left behind, followed her as far as he could (meaning to the stairs) and then cried a bit before his sister picked him up and brought him with her.<p>

She already knew most of the rooms in this house, since April had given the older four and Bea a tour of the place, but there were some rooms she wasn't sure of their location. So, after some trial and error, she finally found the room she was looking for.

She wasn't sure whose room this had been at one time, but there was a small shelf full of books. Setting Vincent down beside her, she pulled out one of the books and opened it. It was not very big, and had a bright colors on the front. There was a picture of a turtle swinging on a clock.

"Look, Vincent! It's a turtle!"

Vincent smiled and clapped his hands together.

* * *

><p>Liz picked Gabe up and looked outside. While they had been driving to the farmhouse, it had started to snow, just light flurries, but none of it was sticking. Just looking at the fluffy cold ice made Liz shiver. Making a face, she took her brother up the stairs and started filling the tub with warm water.<p>

Gabriel watched his sister, his eyes narrowing with each passing second as the tub filled with steaming water.

Elizabeth stood and grabbed two towels and a soft looking brush and placed on a nearby stool. Then she turned to where Gabriel had been just a moment before…only to be met with empty floor.

The smaller turtle was crawling as fast as he could over to the door.

Sighing, the larger turtle walked over to the child and picked him up. "You know, for a little guy, you are fast." She said to the squirming turtle before almost tossing him into the warm water.

Gabe dipped under the water for a moment before coming to the surface on his carapace, staring up at her with a scowl on his face.

"I know. I know. But you are filthy."

The baby turtle crossed his arms, mimicking his father, as his sister climbed into the tub with him, grabbing the brush as she did so. Crossing her arms in a no nonsense way, she stared at her brother, green eyes meeting green eyes. "Well, are you going to turn over?"

The little turtle kicked at her, splashing her face and mask. The turtle's second eye lid covered her eyes as the water hit her face before blinking away. "That's not going to get you out of here any faster."

Gabe held up the face for a long moment before turning over and swimming over to her and turning his back to her.

Smiling in victory, Elizabeth brought out the brush and started brushing his carapace, surprising the little boy. At first he was shocked and then, begrudgingly, allowed himself to be brushed.

"Thought you'd like that." Liz said with a chuckle, causing her brother to pout some more, which lead the older turtle to laugh even louder.

* * *

><p>Several days passed and adventures in the farmhouse continued. Sebastian had taken residence in the barn and had found several older machines. He was currently trying to take the pieces of those machines and turn them into more useful things for the house, namely a basking lamp.<p>

The upcoming winter wasn't that kind for cold-blooded turtles like himself, his sister, aunt and cousins.

Each night, without fail, they would receive a skype or phone call from New York, ranging from a "hi" to an update, depending if there was any progress on the Kraang plot.

At least…until one Monday.

It was about a week after April had left the turtles had left the farmhouse…and Bea, Claire, Sebastian, Elizabeth and Cyprian had gone the whole day without hearing one thing from New York.

At first, Bea brushed it off, saying that they were probably working on something important and would call later.

But later eventually became midnight…and even Donnie would have made sure to contact them before then…

So, while all the other turtles were asleep, Bea pulled out her T-phone and called Donnie T-phone.

* * *

><p>At a gas station on the way to the farmhouse, April and Casey had decided to switch drivers.<p>

Once she was in the driver seat, an odd thought crossed her mind as the lights from the gas station faded into the night. "Oh gosh… We didn't call Bea…"

"What?" Casey asked, rubbing his tired eyes.

"We didn't call Bernadette!"

"Oh man! She's going to kill us…" Raph said from the back, his voice tired, but hadn't slept a wink since they left New York.

The sleeping octopus, aka: Mikey, in Raph's lap had fallen asleep almost 10 miles back, but only after Raph had promised to wake him should something happen to Leo.

Leo hadn't moved once, save for the rocking of the van as they drove, since they left New York. And that troubled Donnie. The purple masked turtle kept a steadfast vigil over his eldest brother, checking his breathing and pulse regularly.

There had already been one scare. About 5 miles back, Leo had stopped breathing audibly, forcing Donnie to perform CPR. Needless to say, the incident had scared all of them, and they all promised silently not to tell Mikey, who had slept through all of it, or Bea.

"Well, who's going to call her, then?" Casey asked.

As he spoke, Donnie's T-Phone rang.

"Oh…shoot…" Four voices chorused.

Donnie picked up his phone, to see that it was, in fact, Bea calling. Looking between the phone and Leo he tossed it towards Casey. "Jones, can you answer this for me?"

"Why can't you?"

"Because I'm making sure that Leo's heart doesn't stop…again."

"Hm…Good point." The hockey player replied before answering the phone. "Hello."

"_WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO YOU!?"_

Casey had to hold the phone at arm's length away from his head…and could _still_ hear every word clearly. "How do you know that word?" He asked rhetorically.

"Put her on speaker." Raph ordered, which Casey did, if only to save his ears.

"_Are you guys gonna answer my question, or am I going to have to beat it out of you?"_

Casey gave Raph a look. "Through the phone?"

"_Don't tempt me, Jones."_

Casey held up a hand in surrender.

"We're on our way to the farmhouse, Bea." April answered the turtle girl's question.

The other end was silent for a moment. "_Should I celebrate…or be worried?"_

"Probably worried." Casey replied, receiving a smack from Raph a second later.

"_What. Happened."_ Bernadette ordered from the other end of the phone, her voice as scary as Splinter and Leo on a bad day.

Donnie finally spoke up. "The Kraang found the lair. They destroyed the place and chased us all over New York. We had to split up…and The Shredder found Leo…"

There was silence on the other end.

"I'm not going to sugar coat it for you…He's in bad shape. But Leo's alive, and that's what matters."

"_How long until you get here?"_

"As long as we don't run into any delays," April took over. "I'd say 6 hours. We have to drive a bit slower to account for Leo's injuries."

Silence on the other end for a long moment. _"What should I tell Claire?"_

Silence filled the van. What should they tell Leo's daughter? Vincent was too young to understand…but Claire definitely would understand.

And that was scarier than anything Bernadette could throw at them.

"Is she awake?" Raph asked, breaking the silence.

"_Not right now. I just checked."_

"Ok. If she asks, tell her that we are on our way to the farmhouse for a visit." Raph said firmly, looking down at his unconscious brother.

"_I'm not sure she'll buy it…but ok." _Bea said, sounding much calmer. _"How is he, right now?"_

"He's alive." Donnie reported once more.

There was a sigh of relief on the other end. Followed by a warning beep coming from Donnie's phone. Casey looked at the device to see a red battery bar flashing. It was empty.

"Bae, we are going to have to hang up now. Donnie's phone's about to die," He yawned. "And I need to grab a nap if I'm going to relieve April before we get to the farmhouse.

"_It's Bea, Jones."_

"Same letters."

"_Call me that again, and I will kill you through the phone."_

Casey rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, Bae."

A loud _fwap_ sounded in the car as Raph's hand collided with Casey's skull. "That's my sister you are talking about, buddy boy."

"Alright, alright, geez." The boy said, rubbing his head. "Goodnight, Bea."

"_Night, guys. See you in the morning."_

* * *

><p>Light from the dawn streamed through the windows of the farmhouse. Claire was the first awake, rubbing her eyes and making her way to the window, expecting to see more snow…only to see green grass! It was warmer out today, and the flurries were nowhere in sight.<p>

Holding in a laugh of glee, Claire grabbed her turquoise mask and tied it on before hurrying as quietly as she could down the stairs and out the door.

Running out to the field between the barn and the house, she took a deep breath of the dewy warm air and slipped into one of the katas that her jiichan had taught her before she, her cousins and aunt had left the comforts of the sewers. She barely noticed the sound of the door opening as Bea came out and sat on the porch, nor did she feel any of the distress that hung over her aunt.

Enjoying the sun after several days of cold was simply heavenly.

But one sound did grab her attention.

The sound of a vehicle pulling up.

"Claire." Bea called, as the girl in question ran up from the yard to where the very familiar van pulled up.

Claire smiled as the door opened, hoping to tackle hug her father…

Only to be met by a rather somber looking Mikey, who held out an arm towards her, telling her to stop.

Looking around her uncle, she saw Donnie and Raph rush out of van with something dangling between them. "Did you get the tub ready, Bea?" April asked, making her away around the van.

"Just like you guys asked."

Claire tried to move around Mikey to see what was going on. She couldn't make out the shape of the thing hanging between her uncles…but she couldn't see her father anywhere. "Otosan? Otosan?" she asked.

Mikey knelt down and held his niece. "He's here. He's…just not in the best shape right now, Claire-bear."

She tried to struggle out of Mikey's arms, but her uncle was strong. She managed to wiggle a bit to see Donnie and Raph heading into the house…and there was a third arm dangling between the two.

Leo's lifeless arm almost dragging on the ground.

She began to struggle even more. "_Otosan!"_

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry about the feels.

By the way, we were inspired by a similar scene in Warner Brothers Movie Quest for Camelot for the final scene. For copyright purposes, we do NOT own that idea. That belongs to Warner Brothers.

As a warning: The feels continue into the next chapter.

Please leave a Review! Thanks!

~R&R


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